The Łódź-ZHAW Duo Colloquium: Multilingual Communication Now – Processes, Roles, Responsibilities
4th session: ZHAW, Winterthur, Switzerland, 27 – 28 March 2026
The DUO Colloquium investigates the effects of the radical changes that have taken place in the language industry since 2017, when the machine translation platform DeepL launched, but especially since the arrival of ChatGPT and other GenAI systems in 2022. Now that machine translation has become the norm, the roles played by human linguists are shifting – towards multilingual communication management but also towards intercultural, linguistic and technological consulting. This shift means that there is a need for the research fields associated with the language industry to take stock and reorient.
The conference will focus on the following research questions:
- Processes: How have workflows changed and how are they continuing to change in the era of GenAI? Which role does human oversight and human creativity play in successful multilingual and accessible communication? How does human creativity interact with AI?
- Roles: How are the roles, competences and career trajectories of language professionals changing? How does this manifest itself on the level of the individual, but also on an organisational level, for language service providers and in-house language services departments in the private and public sectors? Have the services offered by the industry changed?
- Responsibilities: Which ethical responsibilities do linguists have in the new digital environment? What is involved in broadening the scope of accessible communication? How might we encourage the creation of humane, sustainable working environments for linguists? How will the educational institutions that train linguists ensure that their graduates will be adequately equipped for a changed language industry?
This 4th session of the DUO Colloquium creates a vital forum for exchange between the language industry, governmental institutions, and academia, in an era of unprecedented transformation.
Programme
Dates, fee and registration
Important dates
- 08 March 2026: deadline for registration for all participants
- 27 – 28 March 2026: ZHAW session of the Duo Colloquium
Conference fee
- CHF 60 (regular)
- CHF 30 (students)
Organising committee and contact
ZHAW organising committee
Łódź organising committee
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact duocolloquium.imk@zhaw.ch.
