The language services industry is navigating choppy waters, and the definition of how we define…
Welcome to the ATC’s Spotlight on AI newsletter. Each quarter, we’re bringing you the latest AI news, opinion and best practice from across the UK and global language services industry, curated by the ATC team, member companies, and AI innovators and experts.
And of course, you’ll hear from Mark Jones, Head of Technology at Comtec Translations, who’ll share with us his thoughts on what’s hot in the realm of AI right now.
Implementing the EU AI Act
There is a huge deal of uncertainty and unclear information on how the EU AI Act, enforced as of August 2026, should be implemented by language service companies. The EUATC’s briefing outlines some of the EU AI Act’ key compliance considerations for language service providers, and what’s still coming round the corner.
Emerging ISO Standards for AI
What should language service providers know about ISO standards on Artificial Intelligence, and how do they relate to the EU AI Act? Those were the questions behind the first EUATC – ISO TC 37/SC 5 knowledge-sharing webinar of the 2026-27 season held on 12 October 2026.
You can now read a detailed summary of the webinar on the EUATC website.
AI-Enabled Technology Solutions from ATC Partners
➡ LBS Suite have developed AI agents for terminology extraction, AI translation and AI post-editing, easily integrated into traditional translation workflows. 👀 Watch the replay of our latest Technology Showcase to see LBS Suite’s AI agents in action.
➡ LanguageCheck.ai provide cutting-edge AI-powered quality checking for human and MT that reduces the effort required for post-editing.
➡ Multilingual DTP and data experts DTP Labs offer AI-powered digitisation of documents with exceptional accuracy with Lingvert. 👀 Watch the replay of our October Technology Showcase to see a live demo of Lingvert.
➡ TIESPL offer AI-assisted data services, multilingual accessibility and multimedia, eLearning and more scalable services.
➡ voxANN Align is an AI-powered cloud platform for audiovisual work with automated (QA) on multilingual audio for voice recording and transcription workflows
AI Localization Think Tank: Hear it from the Experts
The AI Localization Think Tank is a collective of AI and localization experts, innovators, and problem-solvers from across the globe whose mission it is to make sense of the AI evolution through informed, diverse, and inclusive perspectives. Dive in, read the analyses and thought pieces, and consume the curated resources.
Recommended reads:
👉 We’ve Been Asking the Wrong Question About AI Translation – explores the framing shift from ‘human in the loop’ to ‘human in control’
👉 The silent shift that already happened: From downstream production to upstream solution – on the changing infrastructure of multilingual content
👉 If everyone can build, what is the value of software? – on how AI-assisted coding has disrupted the localisation technology market, and where the true value lies today
Musings By Mark: Should You be Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding is a hot topic in localisation right now, and it brings the age-old build-versus-buy debate back into focus. Should you be experimenting, testing and building solutions yourselves?
In short, I think the answer is yes. AI has put technology into the hands of more teams than ever before, and with the risk of shadow tech looming (where teams go off and build their own solutions), localisation teams and LSCs in particular need to get ahead of the game.
Firstly, it’s important to recognise that AI isn’t a silver bullet for everything. In some cases, traditional localisation engineering, structured automation and well-defined workflows remain the best approach. It’s also worth distinguishing between vibe coding, which lends itself to rapid experimentation and prototyping, and more structured AI-assisted development, where engineering expertise, testing and governance remain essential.
However, access to coding agents and tools such as Claude Code, Cursor and OpenAI Codex is enabling teams to develop tailored solutions that make them more agile and productive, while opening up opportunities to design and build innovative products and services for their clients.
Now, let’s be clear. I’m not suggesting that you should go out and build your own TMS or try to compete with the established, well-funded development teams behind major technology platforms. However, having attended the GenAI in Localization conference back in June, which focused on the practical application of AI in technology development, it was clear that teams are already doing some brilliant things. They’re building solutions that are fundamentally changing how they work.
From QE frameworks and user engagement metrics to workflow orchestration layers and terminology curation, the possibilities seem almost endless. Language experts are also extremely well placed to lead this evolution, bringing years of experience, domain knowledge and the necessary guardrails to guide the development of new language technology applications.
If you haven’t already, I’d recommend starting to experiment in this space by identifying pain points that you want or need to address. Vibe coding and more structured AI-assisted development are here to stay (at least for now), and both could help you uncover new opportunities.
That said, you don’t need to engineer everything yourself. The real opportunity isn’t in building everything ourselves, but in knowing what to build, what to buy, and where our expertise can make the biggest difference.
Mark Jones, Head of Technology at Comtec Translations
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