The Linguist

Chartered Institute of Linguists SUMMER 2026 The Linguist 7 NEWS & EDITORIAL At CIOL Conference, the main question wasn't if languages work is changing, but how linguists are meeting that change The 2026 CIOL Conference, held at King's College London's Bush House on Friday 17 April, drew CIOL members and non-members from across all forms of work in languages. The venue itself set the tone. Bush House was, for over 70 years, the home of the BBC World Service, broadcasting in dozens of languages until the BBC's departure in 2012. It is a building shaped by the work of linguists across generations. Welcoming the audience, CIOL's Head of Membership Dom Hebblethwaite noted that it had once been declared the most expensive property in the world; but for him, the deeper resonance was the professional and linguistic one. The room reflected the breadth of CIOL's membership. Students and recent graduates mingled with experienced translators, interpreters and linguists from universities, schools, business, government and the professions. The Conference focused on a single, integrated programme for all linguists, expanded into four double-stream sessions across the main auditorium and the King's Business School Lecture Theatre. Following the welcome, the speakers turned to the question most attendees had arrived with: where does work in languages go in the age of AI? What followed was neither denial nor false comfort. No one pretended the market wasn't tough, or that adaptation wasn't urgent. But the prevailing message was one of grounded reassurance. The disruption facing translators, several speakers observed, is the disruption facing solicitors, programmers and financial services professionals alike. The work has not disappeared so much as changed shape, towards direct client work, certified translation, greater specialisation, and deeper localisation and consultancy. The mood was optimistic, with the coming together of over 200 linguists a major driver of that confidence. CEO John Worne opened proceedings with Vice-Chair of Council Mariam Aboelezz in a session titled 'The Landscape for Linguists in 2026: Charting new territories'. The framing of that session recurred through the day's talks. Emma Gledhill articulated it most sharply in the closing panel: "The first question anyone ever asks these days is: 'Why not AI?' There is a general lack of appreciation of the risks involved – and sometimes it's very attractive not to worry about it when you've got cost imperatives to meet." That question, 'why not AI?', set the terms of much of the day. Across the streams The double-stream format gave delegates a genuine choice. Andrew Simpson, whose career has spanned legal work, French football and certified medical translation, took on the question of whether the modern linguist really can do it all. In the parallel auditorium, Vasiliki Prestidge reframed technology integration as competitive advantage rather than threat. Ibrahim Kadouni spoke about building new professional identities in a changing world, while Mariam Aboelezz, who teaches Arabic Translation Studies, turned the lens on how universities are adapting the education and training of the next generation of linguists. A day of optimism INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKERS Attendees enjoy a talk in the main auditorium, while others joined a talk in the lecture theatre

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