The move towards AI in ASL is led by hearing non-interpreters. This commodification of ASL—almost certainly dependent, like other AI models, on mining large amounts of data for large language models without informed consent—is being led at Sorenson by Sorenson CEO Paget Alves (hearing), backed by Ariel (led by hearing people) and Blackstone (led by hearing people).
Sorenson announced yesterday that it had acquired two startups—Hand Talk and Omnibridge, with the explicit goal of developing “automated sign language technologies.” The ASL Interpreters Union has serious concerns about this:
- Why is Sorenson spending money on acquisitions of technology that have little short-term promise when interpreters are burnt out and leaving the company due to its failure to respect the experience of interpreters and the Deaf community?
- As far as we can tell, Sorenson doesn’t have a single Deaf person on its Board of Directors. We believe that any introduction of AI into ASL interpretation must be led by a broad cross-section of the Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and Deaf-Blind communities. That Sorenson is further commodifying ASL after laying off many of their Deaf employees does not bode well for the future of AI in ASL interpretation.
That Sorenson made these decisions is part and parcel of the overall private equity business model. Sorenson’s minority owner (27 percent) The Blackstone Group was caught employing child labor in its slaughterhouse cleaning business just in 2023, and is playing a significant role in escalating housing costs across the country. Likewise, Ariel, Sorenson’s majority owner, is headed by Mellody Hobson, who as the Lead Independent Director at Starbucks, has overseen aggressive union-busting campaigns.
The only way we can ensure that any introduction of AI into ASL interpretation is equitable and Deaf-led is for interpreters to organize. Our Week of Action is coming up on February 24—please fill out this form to get involved.