The UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), supported by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, hosted a two-day workshop on Translating Cultures and Artificial Intelligence on September 24-25, 2025. This workshop brought together internationally recognized scholars and researchers to discuss their papers on the Chair’s 2025 theme “Translating Cultures in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” and prepare them for publication. During this two-day virtual workshop, five authors whose chapters were selected for the 2025 edited volume on Translating Cultures and Artificial Intelligence presented their chapters-in-progress, articulated the conceptual frameworks underpinning their research, and reflected on key questions, challenges, and interventions shaping their work. The workshop also offered a valuable opportunity for Translating Cultures Lab (TCL) members to provide feedback to potential contributors and engage in dialogue around the broader theoretical and thematic concerns that animate this edited volume.

Four chapters were presented at the workshop, each critically examining the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in translating cultures. Some papers compared human and AI translations of cultural references and discussed the role that human translators can play as an “ethical buffer” in AI-driven translations. Other papers discussed the ability of AI-driven translation to influence global power dynamics and to preserve culture and its diversity. Papers were presented by scholars from Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud Islamic University, Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, and Heriot Watt University. The workshop was hosted by UNESCO Chair Moneera Al-Ghadeer with contributions from TCL members Professor Charles Forsdick, Professor Helena Moniz, Dr. Mohammed Lafi Allwaish, and Dr. Andreas Karatsolis.