From the President: Winds of Change

Andy Benzo
president@atanet.org

There’s a phrase I carry with me, one my father used to say whenever life felt uncertain: We cannot stop the wind, but we can adjust our sails. I find myself returning to those words often these days, because if there’s one thing that defines this moment in our profession, it’s change. The question isn’t whether we’ll face it, but how we’ll meet it.

The winds blowing through the translation and interpreting professions are not subtle. They are reshaping workflows, challenging long-held assumptions, and asking each of us to reckon honestly with what it means to practice this craft in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). But I’ll tell you this: we’re not standing still, and you’re not navigating this alone.

The following outlines a few ways ATA is helping its members navigate uncertainty.

Navigating with a Collective Voice and Advocacy

That’s the very reason this Association exists. ATA’s motto is “the voice of translators and interpreters,” which means it’s your voice and ATA’s leadership listens.

And we’re listening. ATA has pushed back against legislation that would have placed AI in settings where only qualified human professionals belong. We’ve signed letters, organized coalitions, and lent our collective weight to debates. That advocacy doesn’t happen without paying members, without volunteers, and without an organization that lawmakers and decision-makers take seriously. When you renew your membership, you’re not just investing in yourself. You’re keeping that voice alive.

Another advocacy resource I want to highlight is our Language Access Cards. Created by ATA’s Public Relations Committee, these free, downloadable cards are designed for limited-English-proficient individuals to enable them to familiarize themselves with their language access rights, including exercising the right to request a translator or interpreter. It’s a small thing that makes a real difference, and it reflects something important about who we are as an association: we serve the profession, and we serve the people the profession serves.

Navigating with Confidence and Continuity

This summer, ATA is launching its first two microcredentials. This isn’t just a milestone; it’s a declaration of purpose. Microcredentials are targeted, stackable credentials that recognize specific competencies and come in two forms: those that certify a skill and those that demonstrate mastery of content knowledge. Both types matter. A skills-based credential says, “I can do this, and I can do it well.” A content-based credential says, “I understand the landscape, the concepts, and the stakes.” In a field evolving as fast as ours, both are forms of expertise that clients, agencies, and institutions increasingly look for when deciding whom to trust with their most sensitive work. These first two microcredentials focus on AI, and that’s no coincidence.

AI is just a tool. But it’s a tool that isn’t going away, and one we need to understand if we intend to remain competitive. I’m not suggesting that every translator must use AI to produce translations. What I’m saying is that the range of applications is already broader than many of us realize: AI as an editor, a researcher, a terminology extractor, a glossary builder, a first-pass quality checker. Whether you choose to use it is a professional decision that belongs entirely to you. But that decision needs to be an informed one. We cannot criticize what we don’t understand. We cannot explain to our clients, in clear and confident terms, why we do or don’t use these tools if we’ve never taken the time to learn how they work.

Think about the computer. When it arrived, it disrupted everything. There was resistance, and the learning curve was real. But we learned, and today none of us could imagine working without it. Nobody writes on a typewriter unless it’s a prop in a movie scene. The computer didn’t replace us. It became part of how we work, how we think, and how we deliver.

Continuing education has always been a core benefit of membership in this Association, and these microcredentials take that commitment further. But education is only part of what we’re building. We’re also working to bring all our files from every committee, division, and area of ATA into a unified Google Drive. It’s not a minor undertaking, but it’s a necessary one. Continuity matters. Institutional memory matters. When knowledge lives in one place, it belongs to everyone who comes after us, and that’s how an organization grows stronger over time.

Navigating Together

Adjusting our sails also means ensuring others can see who we are and the value we bring. In the coming months, ATA will launch a marketing campaign to expand our visibility beyond our traditional circles and introduce our profession to new audiences. We want other associations, such as those representing lawyers, physicians, and business leaders, to better understand the critical role translators and interpreters play in society. By sharing that message more broadly, we can strengthen our profession, create new opportunities for our members, and reinforce ATA’s position as the leading voice for the language professions.

My father was right. We cannot stop the wind. But adjusting your sails isn’t a passive act. It takes skill, attention, and the willingness to keep your hands on the ropes. That’s what ATA is doing every day, through our resources, our advocacy, our community, and now our microcredentials.

The winds of change are real, and they’re not letting up. But a good crew doesn’t wait for calm seas. We’re adjusting our sails, and we’ll navigate this together.