CLICS/CLICS2024A/commsumm.nsf
PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For THE ROLE OF AI IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION
INTERIM COMMITTEE LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD
Date Oct 22, 2024
Location SCR 357
The Role of AI in Translation and Interpretation - Committee Discussion Only
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10:55:31 AM |
The committee reconvened.
Dr. Holly Silvestri, National Center for Interpretation at the University
of Arizona, Stakeholders Advocating for Fair and Ethical AI in Interpreting
(SAFE-AI), presented on the SAFE-AI Task Force and their resources. Slides
from her presentation are available as Attachment C. She discussed ethical
considerations in legislating artificial intelligence (AI), including data
privacy, bias control, risk consideration, language pair limitations, transparency
and explainability, and human oversight and accountability. Dr. Silvestri
explained the creation of the task force and their initial surveys. She
presented key points from SAFE-AI's perception survey, noting that it can
be difficult to distinguish between or define simple and complex conversations.
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11:10:43 AM |
Dr. Silvestri continued to discuss limitations of AI, including particular contextual elements that can trip up AI and imperfect scenarios that require AI to adapt. She noted that conversations change quickly from, for example, low to high risk. She discussed a variety of elements that might be considered when deciding whether to use automated interpreting.
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11:19:14 AM |
Dr. Silvestri explained that decision-making models are essential when considering whether to use automated translation and interpretation. She reiterated the SAFE-AI task force's five ethical principles: accountability to end users, improvement of safety and well being, transparency of technological and interpreting quality and implementation, accountability, and AI as part of existing interpreting ecosystems. Dr. Silvestri noted areas where AI can help if it is not ready to interpret.
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11:26:45 AM |
Ms. Carriero-Contreras
requested information on the costs and limitations of AI translation and
interpretation. Dr. Silvestri explained that AI used in the legislative
setting must be properly trained on state law and the language used in
the legislative process, because the vocabulary is very technical and specific.
She also responded to a question about languages of lesser diffusion, including
many African and indigenous languages, noting that large language models
are trained on material available on the internet and without copyright
protection. She noted that the foundation of interpretation is trust that
the message is being accurately conveyed.
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11:33:26 AM |
Committee members also commented on Dr. Silvestri's presentation, discussing their concerns about AI. Dr. Silvestri responded to questions about how SAFE-AI's survey was conducted and other surveys of AI users.
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11:34:09 AM |
Chair Rutinel asked
about research and data on the accuracy of machine translation compared
to human translation. Mr. Torres commented on machine translation and expressed
a number of concerns. Dr. Silvestri introduced challenges of using AI for
American Sign Language (ASL).
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11:48:28 AM |
Jeff Shaul, GoSign.ai
and SAFE-AI Task Force, presented to the committee through an ASL interpreter.
Mr. Shaul's slides are available as Attachment D. He explained the creation
and work of the Coalition for Sign Language Equity in Technology (Co-SET).
He discussed the #DeafSafeAI Report, linked in his slides. The report includes
survey findings that end users value consumer authority and independence,
or the ability to choose whether to use technology, as well as cultural
controls from respected organizations. Mr. Shaul explained that the data
and datasets used in creating AI are neither comprehensive nor representative,
and they use statistical controls that can exclude outliers.
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11:58:32 AM |
Mr. Shaul presented on sociotechnical systems, a design process that begins with improving readiness and technology. He explained that users must be included in the design process, especially principal communicators. He provided additional recommendations for evaluating AI technology.
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12:03:39 PM |
Mr. Shaul responded to a question about safe use of technology for sign language. He explained that sign language data must still be collected to develop effective translation technology. He noted that the community is making progress with avatars, and that an AI could be trained to show people how to make a particular word in ASL.
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