In the late 1990s I began taking classes to be a sign language interpreter. Part of why I chose the profession was I believed it was safe from automation and thus secure as a career. In the 2000s the rise of interpreting over Internet video made me realize it could be outsourced to people who would work far cheaper than me. In the past 3-5 years, with the advances of machine interpreting and especially with the advent of the Motion Savvy tablet, I accepted I was wrong in thinking that ASL / English interpreting was automation-proof. As of December 2014 I have resigned from interpreting before the entire field vanishes (which I predict will happen in the USA by 2018). Now I do something else for my job.
In the late 1990s I began taking classes to be a sign language interpreter. Part of why I chose the profession was I believed it was safe from automation and thus secure as a career. In the 2000s the rise of interpreting over Internet video made me realize it could be outsourced to people who would work far cheaper than me. In the past 3-5 years, with the advances of machine interpreting and especially with the advent of the Motion Savvy tablet, I accepted I was wrong in thinking that ASL / English interpreting was automation-proof. As of December 2014 I have resigned from interpreting before the entire field vanishes (which I predict will happen in the USA by 2018). Now I do something else for my job.