AI translation or conference interpreters: which fits your event?
Not every session needs a booth.
We sell AI translation, so treat this page with the scepticism it deserves. Here's the honest version: for most conferences, town halls and regional events, translated captions and AI audio give the audience what they came for at a fraction of the setup. For binding, legal or diplomatic sessions, human interpreters are still the right call, and we'll tell you so before you spend money with us.
The short answer: book interpreters when the words themselves carry legal or diplomatic weight. Use Oracle when the goal is for everyone in the room to follow along.
Book human interpreters when…
- The session is legally binding, on the record, or may be quoted in a dispute.
- It's a negotiation, and tone and nuance are part of the deal.
- A regulator, court or professional body requires a certified interpreter.
- The setting is sensitive and one-to-one, such as a medical consultation.
- Your delegation expects a booth as a matter of protocol.
Use Oracle when…
- You want everyone in the room to follow the talk, in their own language.
- You need several languages at once without adding a booth for each.
- Sessions run in parallel, in breakout rooms, or online as well as in the hall.
- A language gets added late, or you don't know the delegate mix until the week before.
- You want a transcript and a recap afterwards, not just live coverage.
Which one fits your session?
Answer three questions.
Nothing is sent anywhere. This is the same set of questions our project managers ask on a first call.
Our answer
Answer the three questions above
We'll tell you which setup we'd recommend, even when that isn't ours.
What each setup actually involves
One is rigged. One is connected.
- Soundproof booths, consoles and a distribution system, rigged before the event.
- Interpreters usually work in pairs per language, swapping every 20 to 30 minutes.
- A technician on site for the duration.
- A receiver and headset for every attendee, plus a desk to issue and collect them.
- Another language means another booth, another pair of interpreters and more floor space.
- A connection to the sound desk you already have, set up in an afternoon.
- Captions on the venue screen, and on each attendee's phone in their language.
- Or an AI voice through their own earphones, switchable mid-session.
- Nothing to issue at the door and nothing to collect back afterwards.
- Remote attendees get the same languages on the same event link.
What you're actually paying for
Count the lines, not just the rate.
We won't publish numbers for either option, because both depend on your venue, your languages and your programme. What we can do is show you what appears on each quote, so you can compare like with like.
On an interpreting quote
- Interpreter fees, usually a day rate per interpreter, and normally two per language.
- Travel and accommodation when a language isn't available locally.
- Booth hire, rigging and de-rigging.
- Consoles, the distribution system and a technician.
- Receivers and headsets, priced per attendee, plus replacements for the ones that don't come back.
- Floor space in the hall, which your venue may charge for.
On an Oracle quote
- The platform for your sessions and the languages you need.
- Connecting to your sound desk and testing with your AV team.
- A named project manager, on site for the day.
- Transcripts and recaps in the languages you ran.
Adding a language to Oracle doesn't mean another booth, another pair of interpreters or more floor space. Tell us the languages and we'll quote for them.
Where each one is genuinely better
A machine won't read the room.
What a human interpreter does that we don't
- Carries tone, irony and humour across, instead of translating the words and losing the joke.
- Repairs a speaker who is rambling, mumbling or talking over someone else.
- Takes professional responsibility for the rendering, which matters when there's a record.
- Reads the room and adjusts register for the audience in front of them.
- Handles a whispered aside or a side conversation that never reaches a microphone.
What Oracle does that a booth can't
- Runs several languages at once without adding booths, interpreters or floor space.
- Covers breakout rooms and parallel tracks, not just the main hall.
- Includes attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing, because captions are on screen anyway.
- Reaches remote attendees on the same link as the room.
- Leaves you a searchable transcript and a recap afterwards, in each language you ran.
An honest note on delay: live translation runs a few seconds behind the speaker, and a good interpreter is faster. Attendees notice it for the first minute, then stop noticing.
Using both at the same event
It isn't either or.
Plenty of conferences book interpreters for the opening plenary and the ministerial session, then run Oracle across the breakouts, the exhibition theatre and the online audience, where booths were never going to be affordable.
It works the other way too. Some organisers keep the booths exactly as they are and add Oracle for the captions, the accessibility and the transcript, so the recording is searchable in every language afterwards.
| Session | Setup |
|---|---|
| Ministerial opening | Interpreter booths, plus Oracle captions on screen |
| Main stage keynotes | Oracle, captions and audio |
| Six breakout tracks | Oracle in every room |
| Online audience | Oracle on the event link |
| Closed bilateral | Interpreters only, nothing recorded |
Questions to ask any AI translation vendor
Including us.
If you're comparing suppliers, these eight questions separate the ones who have run a live hall from the ones who have only run a demo.
Where does your audio come from?A feed from the sound desk behaves very differently from a microphone at the back of the room.
Can you load our speakers' names and specialist terms in advance?If the answer is no, expect your chairman's name spelled four ways in the transcript.
Can an attendee switch between captions and audio during a session?People change their mind once the slides get busy.
Do remote attendees get the same languages as the room?Some tools cover the hall and leave the online audience in the floor language.
What happens to the audio and transcripts afterwards?Ask where they're stored, who can reach them and when they're deleted. Put it in the contract.
Who is on site on the day?Software rarely fails on its own. Cables, mixers and venue Wi-Fi do.
Do we get the transcript in the translated languages, or only the original?This is the difference between a record your regional offices can use and one they can't.
What's the fallback if a language drops mid-session?There should be an answer that doesn't involve the audience noticing first.
Send us these questions and we'll answer them for your event
Frequently asked questions
Can AI translation replace simultaneous interpreters?
For many conferences, town halls, training sessions and regional events, yes. For binding, legal, diplomatic or high-stakes negotiation settings, human interpreters remain the right choice, and we'll say so rather than sell you the wrong thing.
Is AI translation accurate enough for a technical conference?
It depends on two things you control: the audio feed and the preparation. We connect to the sound desk rather than a room mic, and we load your speakers' names, acronyms and specialist terms before the event. More on accuracy.
Do we still need booths if we use Oracle?
No. Attendees follow on their own phone, as captions or as AI audio through their own earphones, so there are no booths to rig and no receivers to issue or collect.
Can we use interpreters and Oracle at the same event?
Yes, and many organisers do. Interpreters for the plenary or the ministerial session, Oracle for the breakouts, the exhibition theatre and the online audience.
What about court, arbitration or regulated settings?
Use a certified human interpreter. Where a court, regulator or professional body sets the standard, that standard is the answer, not our software.
Does it work for hybrid and online audiences?
Yes. Remote attendees choose their language on the same event link as the room, which is usually where interpreting budgets run out first.
Do attendees need headsets from us?
Not from you. Attendees in the room listen on their own earphones, so it's worth adding a line to your joining instructions.
What does it cost?
It depends on your programme and your languages. WhatsApp us on +65 8836 2597, email [email protected], or book a demo. If interpreters are the better answer for your session, we'll tell you that instead.
Your next event · An honest answer
Tell us about the session.
Send us your programme and your delegate mix. We'll tell you which sessions need a booth and which don't, even when the answer costs us the job.
Captions or audioNo receivers to collectMade in Singapore by Klobbi