Giving “speechless” communities a voice: or machine translation versus professional communicator in public service translation

People from war-torn countries and countries suffering economic hardships are on the move in search of a better life or of a refuge. The host countries are challenged: To ensure equal access to public services, civil and political participation of migrants and refugees means to tear down the language barrier. Only translating and interpreting can offer a realistic, time-sensitive solution to this challenge and give “speechless” communities a voice. It is the objective of the article to investigate the expectations we can have from technology in public service translation compared to the performance of professional communicators; The issue of what a machine can(not) do and to fathom, when a professional translator has to intervene, needs a bottom-up approach and will be discussed against the backdrop of public service translation as domain-specific intercultural communication.