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Professionals · code 2643

Translators, interpreters and other linguists

Translators, interpreters and other linguists translate or interpret from one language into another and study the origin, development and structure of languages. Tasks include - (a) studying relationships between ancient parent languages and modern language groups, tracing the origin and evolution of words, grammar and language forms, and presenting findings; (b) advising on or preparing language classification systems, grammars, dictionaries and similar materials; (c) translating from one language into another and ensuring that the correct meaning of the original is retained, that legal, technical or scientific works are correctly rendered, and that the phraseology and terminology of the spirit and style of literary works are conveyed as far as possible; (d) developing methods for the use of computers and other instruments to improve productivity and quality of translation; (e) interpreting from a spoken or a signed language into another spoken or signed language, in particular at conferences, meetings and similar occasions, and ensuring that the correct meaning and, as far as possible, the spirit of the original are transmitted; (f) revising and correcting translated material. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Interpreter - Lexicographer - Philologist - Sign language interpreter - Subtitler - Translator - Translator-reviser Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Author - 2641 - Book editor - 2641 - Journalist - 2642

Most of the tasks are affected. It ranks 414 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • sign language interpreter
  • lexicographer
  • graphologist
  • interpreter
  • linguist
  • translator

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

40.7
Holds up
against AI Exposed: Gradient 3

AI could take on 59.3 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 59.3 = 40.7

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

17.7
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 2 US jobs

9.6
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 17 · hand skill 4.4 · cramped spaces 7.3 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 17.7 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 70, while the average is 59.3. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 70

    Revising and correcting translated material.

    Medium
  2. 66.5

    Developing methods for the use of computers and other instruments to improve productivity and quality of translation

    Medium
  3. 64

    Translating from one language into another and ensuring that the correct meaning of the original is retained, that legal, technical or scientific works are correctly rendered, and that the phraseology and terminology of the spirit and style of literary works are conveyed as far as possible

    Medium
  4. 61.5

    Advising on or preparing language classification systems, grammars, dictionaries and similar materials

    Medium
  5. 53.5

    Interpreting from a spoken or a signed language into another spoken or signed language , in particular at conferences, meetings and similar occasions, and ensuring that the correct meaning and, as far as possible, the spirit of the original are transmitted

    Medium
  6. 40

    Studying relationships between ancient parent languages and modern language groups, tracing the origin and evolution of words, grammar and language forms, and presenting findings

    Low

6 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

One Australian job matches, but only partly: not everyone in it does this job. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
71
AI does it for you
47

Helping wins by 24 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2724

Compared with similar jobs

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.6. This one is below that.