Insights · Translation & language
AI interpretation is here. Does it solve cross-border communication?
In our experience, the main barrier in cross-border communication is not language. It is the way of thinking that the language carries.
A case from our interpreting work
We once interpreted for a New Zealand consultancy serving a Chinese client. The two sides spent considerable effort agreeing the overall scope of service. When they began detailing the project, the Chinese client kept moving beyond the agreed boundaries in practical discussions. The agreed framework shifted step by step. Progress slowed, and both sides were unsure why.
The cause was two collaboration systems that did not align. One starts from contract boundaries: define the scope first, then work within it, and treat the plan as binding. The other starts from the goal: move the work forward and adjust the boundaries along the way, treating flexibility as part of competence. Interpretation can carry the information, but it cannot close this structural gap.
Planning as commitment
The difference shows clearly in how work is done. Organisations in English-speaking countries often plan with notable discipline. An NGO can plan the coming year month by month before the year ends. A school can schedule every major event and coordinate resources before the academic year begins.
Anyone who has run a business knows how hard it is to foresee the main changes of the next quarter. Planning from the whole picture, covering the main variables, leaving buffers and then keeping to the plan is an uncommon organisational skill. Work does move forward as planned. Changing the plan during execution, however, meets strong resistance, because the plan is a commitment and changing it breaks an agreement.
Flexibility as service
Chinese working culture is strong in a different area: flexibility and resilience under pressure. Teams can often complete a near-impossible task at the last minute. They are good at reallocating resources dynamically. If a goal is worth it, they accept that the reallocation may disrupt another department’s planned work.
Scope creep is therefore common in Chinese project execution. It is sometimes even seen as good service: providing more than the client expects.
Where the real barrier lies
This is where the problem starts. One side sees going beyond scope as flexibility and goodwill. The other side sees it as erosion of the agreed contract. One side builds from details towards a whole. The other expects to start from a framework and break it down.
These structural differences in thinking and culture are the real barrier in cross-border communication and business. AI interpretation does not solve them. A good interpreter, or a consultant who works in both systems, can name the difference early and help both sides agree how scope changes will be handled.
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