AI, Decoloniality and Creative Poetry Translation: The First Symposium

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Artificial Intelligence/Large Language Models (LLMs) open up new possibilities for the representation and experience of language difference, and so for linguistic creativity, and translation. Whereas longer established tools such as Google Translate or DeepL work within what is at root a colonial regime of standardised languages, LLMs such as Chat-GPT, Gemini, and Claude present a more varied and granular landscape of language difference. But this development also creates significant problems of resource allocation and cultural bias. Join us to hear, and hear about, some recent translational and creative work involving AI, and to address the political issues.

In this symposium, Prof Andrew Rothwell will explore how machine translation can support literary translation practice, focusing on Wordscope (pro.wordscope.com/en), which allows the translator to see multiple proposals for every segment and work on them further (or generate new proposals) using ChatGPT, and looking at examples from Proust and Bernard Noël; Dr Ana Valdivia will present her current work with Dr Leonel Vargas (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) which investigates whether Indigenous peoples, particularly those from the Zapotec culture in Mexico, wish to be represented by AI technologies or if their needs require alternative approaches to AI and technology itself; Dr Robert Laidlow will present some of his recent musical compositions which involve text generated by AI, or derived from conversations with LLMs, and address AI’s agnostic relationship to truth (or fact).

Programme

10.00 Welcome (Prof Matthew Reynolds and Dr Joseph Hankinson)

10.15-11.05 Dr Ana Validivia’s presentation, and discussion

[Break]

11.20-12.10 Prof Andrew Rothwell’s presentation, and discussion

[Break]

12.25-1.15 Dr Robert Laidlow’s presentaton, and discussion

1.15 Closing remarks

1.30 End

This symposium is part of the research project on AI, Decoloniality and Creative Poetry Translation (AID-CPT), led by Prof Matthew Reynolds with Dr Joseph Hankinson as PDRA. The project is hosted by the Oxford Comparative Criticism and Translation (OCCT) Research Centre and supported by the John Fell-OUP Research Fund 2024–2025.