When a client asked her to design a glossary for training an artificial intelligence system, translator Jessica Spengler realized she was training her own replacement. 'That was the day I really thought… my job is going,' said the 52-year-old, who translates into English for German educational and historical organizations.
In the U.K., where services account for around 80 per cent of the economy, AI has become flexible, fast and inexpensive competition for many white-collar workers, with impacts beginning to emerge. The IMF estimated in 2024 that more than two-thirds of British workers perform tasks that AI could potentially carry out, making the country more exposed than many other advanced economies.
Translators Face Reduced Rates and Fewer Opportunities
'Some publishers have offered me lower rates than I was getting 10 years ago,' said Spengler, based in Brighton. She no longer receives requests to translate corporate press releases or user manuals, which were typical entry points into the profession. Instead, she is increasingly offered work proofreading machine-generated translations.
'Translators have to rewrite the whole thing, redo the translations, but they still only get paid the reduced rate,' said Holly Parsons, a Spanish-to-English translator at the beginning of her career. The 24-year-old added, 'It's hard as a translator to actually charge what the work is worth because people just don't want to pay it.' She still earns most of her income working as a children's activity leader.
Film Industry Hit Hard
'Film work has definitely been impacted by AI… it's really kicked us down,' said Laura, a 35-year-old director of photography in London, who preferred not to share her last name for professional reasons. To escape the broader crisis hitting the film industry, she is retraining as an outdoor instructor in Dorset, southwest England, earning minimum wage.
Rufai Ajala, 35, who worked on the award-winning short film 'Mad Bills to Pay' at Sundance, has also changed direction and is now training to become a plumber. 'I'm not going to rely on film as my main focus… I don't see it as a career option anymore where you can have stability,' he said, adding that the aim was to find an 'AI-proof' career.
Economic Impact and Future Outlook
According to a report from Morgan Stanley, British companies that adopted AI cut their workforces by eight per cent in the year to October 2025, more than in Germany, Japan, or Australia. Among the countries featured, only the United States saw employment rise with AI.
'There is going to be sort of a painful transition process because new jobs will take time to emerge,' said Bouke Klein Teeselink, an economics professor at King's College London. He noted it would require 'a massive adjustment for society,' which could mean 'a big increase in unemployment.'
