Merging Minds

Economic models don't explain human generosity, but when you look around altruism is everywhere. Is that because generosity is a deviation from the model, or because the model is a deviation from rea…

Merging Minds Host Javi Diaz has done the impossible- He has interviewed the interviewer! Tucker Johnson is well-known in our industry for interviewing the biggest names on his podcast, but today Jav…

Why do many translators see AI as a threat? Part of it has to do with a threat to their income, and part of it likely has to do with a threat to their purpose, says Dr. Andrew Richmond. Dr. Richmond …

Wada'a Fahel is one of localization's biggest superstars, but she didn't grow up wanted to be a LOC leader. Like so many of LOC's best and brightest, she stumbled her way into the industry and then c…

Our jobs were very different 200 years ago. 

Even 100 years ago they were nothing like they are today. The nature of our work is constantly evolving, and we need to continuously discuss how to evolve …

Kathleen Bostick went from being the most senior woman in the Railroad Industry to being a complete beginner in Localization. Why? Because she doesn’t like being bored.

Being a beginner and learning n…

How is AI transforming the translation industry?

Do these tools impact our income?

Are they a threat or an opportunity?

These are the questions that Bureau Works' CEO Gabriel Fairman discusses in his q…

Pascale Tremblay has always been curious, open-minded, and ready to make connections with other people. This is exactly the attitude that got her started in localization as a young woman, and the att…

Tools can be used for good or for evil, and AI is newest, most powerful tool around. This means that when we use it for good, our impact is amplified. This is exactly what Logan Nye, MD has been doin…

Have you ever met someone more interested in going to the laundromat than the museum? Now’s your chance! Sean Hopwood is so intent on authentically connecting with people that he goes to the laundrom…

If anyone understands the intersection of writing and AI, it is Stephen Marche. Stephen first started experimenting with “algorithmic writing” back in 2017 when he built his own writing model.

Since t…

The localization industry is high tech, fast-paced, and ever-changing. That is one of the many reasons we love it. But there can be a dark side to that sort of non-stop culture:

Burnout.

Laura DeCook …

Sibelan Forrester isn’t threatened by AI, she is curious about it. As a professor of Russian Literature at Swarthmore College and a literary translator, she has seen how technology has made its way i…

Come take a walk through the grass with our Merging Minds host Javi Diaz and his guest Jamie Brown! They make conversational stops at the opera, in Brazil, and they, of course, end up talking about t…

Ted Gibson is pretty impressed with how well #LLMs can produce English. But, he doesn’t think they will ever be able to produce the languages of the indigenous tribes he worked with in the Amazon. Th…

The #localization industry needs creative and competent people now more than ever. If you have a passion for languages, now is the time to double down on your skills and dig out your niche. Things ar…

Large Language Models have a problem: The Symbol Grounding Problem. Even though they can write full essays and have conversations, they can’t communicate. The words that they produce have no root. 

Bu…

What can a crowded bus in Argentina teach you about #leadership? What does Harry Potter have to do with starting a career in #localization? What can we do to weather changes in our industry? These ar…

Are we the owners of our own ideas? We often like to think so, but linguist, professor, and writer Donna Jo Napoli isn’t so sure. She sees creative conception as a deeply collaborative process: the f…

Have you ever had a boss that just couldn’t get the struggles of your team? How about one that COULD? Most of us have felt the difference and, today, we are celebrating empathy in our leaders and fai…