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AI and human interpreters

AI and human interpreters, one team

Some sessions need certified human interpreters. Many others are well served by AI interpretation. Sim Trans provides both, so you can put human interpreters where every word matters and AI channels where they fit, run by one team from one run sheet.

Request a demo How it works
A Sim Trans interpreter working in a glass-fronted booth at the side of a darkened event hall.
Human interpreters Arabic ↔ English · main stage
SIM.AI channels UrduHindiFilipinoFrenchMandarin+ captions
A Sim Trans interpreter in the booth, with AI channels covering the rest of the room.

The problem

“We need interpreters for the VIPs, but we cannot staff twelve languages in every room.”

Human simultaneous interpretation is the right choice for the plenary, the ministerial session or the signing. But booking two interpreters per language per room, plus booths and receivers, for every breakout and every smaller language quickly runs beyond budget and venue space.

What you get

AI and human interpreters, in detail.

  • Human interpreters where it matters

    Certified Sim Trans interpreters for plenaries, VIP sessions, negotiations and anything with legal weight.

  • AI channels for the long tail

    Languages with smaller audiences run as AI channels on guests’ phones, without extra booths.

  • AI for breakouts

    Parallel rooms run on AI interpretation while the interpreters stay with the main programme.

  • Captions alongside human audio

    Guests listening to a human interpreter can also read live captions on their phone.

  • One shared glossary

    The names and terms our interpreters prepare also feed the AI channels, so both use the same words.

  • One team, one run sheet

    One point of contact plans interpreters, equipment and AI channels together, and one team runs the day.

How it runs

Step by step.

Every session is set up and monitored by a Sim Trans technician. You never touch the system.

  1. Review the programme

    We go through each session with you: audience, languages, sensitivity and room.

  2. Assign the right option

    Each session gets human interpreters, AI interpretation, or both, with reasons you can see.

  3. Prepare together

    Interpreters and linguists build one glossary from your documents and names list.

  4. Run the day

    Interpreters in the booths, our technician on the AI channels, one coordinator for both.

Specification

At a glance.

Human interpretation
Certified Sim Trans interpreters, simultaneous or consecutive
AI interpretation
81 languages, up to 12 at once per feed
AI delay
A few seconds behind the speaker
Human channels reach guests
Booths and receivers from Sim Trans inventory
AI channels reach guests
Their own phones, 0 apps to install
Planning
One point of contact and one run sheet

A good fit for

  • Summits with a VIP plenary and many breakouts
  • Arabic and English on stage, with many other languages in the audience
  • Government events with protocol sessions and public sessions
  • Multi-day conferences where budgets need to go further
  • Clients who want one supplier accountable for every language

Not the right tool for

  • Legally binding proceedings run only on AI: use human interpreters there
  • Medical consent conversations, which need a human interpreter
Where human interpreters fit

Features

Included in this solution.

  • AI speech-to-speech interpretation

    Live spoken interpretation into each guest’s language, a few seconds behind the speaker.

  • Live captions with “Show original”

    Captions in the guest’s language, with the speaker’s original words one tap away.

  • Custom glossary

    Names, titles, product and legal terms loaded before the event and applied consistently.

  • Live monitoring

    Every language channel is watched in real time by our team throughout the session.

When AI fits and when human interpreters matter

Choose certified human interpreters when a mistake would have legal, diplomatic or personal consequences: hearings, signings, negotiations, medical consent, and VIP sessions with strict protocol. Interpreters read tone, handle humour and idiom, and correct themselves in context.

Choose AI interpretation when the audience is wide and the content is informational: breakouts, stage programmes, training and town halls. It is a few seconds behind the speaker, can run up to 12 languages at once from one feed, and adds a language as a setting rather than a new booth. It can contain errors with names, heavy accents, poor audio and overlapping speakers, which a glossary reduces but does not remove.

Our comparison of AI vs human interpretation sets out the trade-offs in more detail.

Example hybrid set-ups

Main stage human, long tail on AI

At a two-day summit in Abu Dhabi, Sim Trans interpreters cover Arabic and English in booths on the main stage. Delegates who need Urdu, Russian, Mandarin and French follow the same plenary on their phones through AI channels.

VIP session human, breakouts AI

At a ministerial forum in Dubai, the closed VIP session has human simultaneous interpreters. Four afternoon breakouts run on AI interpretation, with no booths in those rooms.

Human audio, AI captions

At a university lecture series, a human interpreter provides Arabic audio, and guests can also read live captions on their phones, including deaf and hard of hearing guests who choose the speaker’s language. See live captions.

One team, one run sheet

Sim Trans already provides simultaneous interpretation in Dubai and consecutive interpretation with its own interpreters. Adding AI channels does not add a supplier: one point of contact, one glossary, one equipment plan and one person to call on the day. Interpreters in the booths can also use Interpreter Assist for live term support.

For a session-by-session way to decide, use our checklist for AI interpretation vs human interpreters. Hybrid set-ups are common for government and public sector events.

Questions organisers ask

When should we use human interpreters instead of AI?

For legally binding proceedings, sensitive negotiations, medical consent, and VIP protocol where every word matters. Machine interpretation can make errors with names, accents, humour, idiom and specialised terms, so these sessions need certified human interpreters.

Can AI captions run alongside a human interpreter?

Yes. Guests can listen to the human interpreter and read live captions on their phone during the same session.

Who manages both sides on the day?

One Sim Trans team. The same point of contact plans the interpreters, the equipment and the AI channels, and one coordinator runs the day.

Do the interpreters and the AI use the same terminology?

Yes. We prepare one glossary from your documents and use it for both, so names and key terms match.

Do you provide consecutive interpretation too?

Yes. Sim Trans provides consecutive interpreters for meetings, site visits and smaller sessions where that format suits better.

More solutions

Planning an event?

Let’s talk about your event.

Tell us the venue, the date and the languages. We reply within 24 hours with a plan and a quote.

Request a demo WhatsApp us (opens in a new tab)
Call
+971 56 685 4225
Email
ai@sim-trans.com
Based in
Dubai and Abu Dhabi, serving the UAE and GCC