Automated translations can break down language barriers and increase access to information, but they can also be highly inaccurate. This timely book explores the social challenges and ethical considerations of using artificial intelligence (AI) translations in high-stakes professional environments. Based on contributions from over two thousand professionals from critical sectors including healthcare, social work, emergency services and the police, the analysis explores the motivations and consequences of multilingual uses of AI across these sectors. Real-life examples provided throughout the book bring home the delicate balance of risks and benefits of using AI to serve and communicate with multilingual communities. By drawing on concepts such as virtue, trust, empathy and AI literacy, this book makes a case for nuance and flexibility, defends the value of language access, and calls for greater transparency in the development and deployment of AI translation tools. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

'Lucas N. Vieira brings much-needed nuance and non-judgemental analysis to the conversation about machine translation use outside the language professions. In a book jam-packed with rich examples and thoughtful insights, Vieira gives voice to a wide range of tool users and rigorously distils his expert evaluation of complex situations into useful guiding principles, presenting the whole package in an engaging and accessible style.'

Lynne Bowker - Canada Research Chair in Translation, Technologies and Society, Université Laval

'This book presents a richly detailed empirical exploration of how machine translation is actually used in public services in the UK. Vieira does not shy away from making practical recommendations that are founded in a thoughtful and balanced analysis of the risks and rewards of using a technology that has quickly become omnipresent.'

Philipp Angermeyer - Professor of Linguistics, York University