WeChat, Emojis, and Beyond
Thursday 12 November 2026 at 2pm in the Platnauer Room, Brasenose College
Michael Szurawitzki (Regensburg) AI, Future and Frontiers of Translation in Computer-Mediated Communication: WeChat, Emojis, and Beyond
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) penetrates digital communication, the question arises as to whether translation as a traditional means of fostering intercultural understanding ceases to exist. AI has its own ways of shaping translations, including, emojis, sometimes actively becoming an author, depending on the platform. The talk addresses what live translation and emoji translation look like and will possibly look like in the future, using the following structure: after an introduction (1.), with a focus on China and the rapidly evolving application WeChat, the current state of research on WeChat, translation, and emojis is addressed (2.). Shifting to the first main part, we look at WeChat’s features, focusing on the translation tools and its capabilities (3.), with the yet to be researched Live Translation being the most recent addition, and put them to the test. In the second main part, we raise the question of whether there are emojis that are translatable at all and draw on a specific set of emojis to back up our argumentation (4.). The concluding remarks focus on possible future developments in digital communication and the relevant research.
Structure of the Talk 1. Introduction, 2. Previous and Current Selected Research, 3. WeChat and Live Translation – The Future of Intercultural Chat Communication?, 4. To Translate or Not to Be Translated? On the Challenges of Translating Emojis, 5. Perspectives for the Future and Further Research
Michael Szurawitzki is Professor and Interim Head of Deutsch als Fremdsprachenphilologie (German as Foreign Language) at the Universität Regensburg. Previous appointments led him to the University of California (Irvine) and to Tongji University in Shanghai, to the Beijing Institute of Technology, and universities in Munich, Hamburg, and Duisburg-Essen.