Welsh Language Commissioner rules that adopting AI does not suspend Welsh language duties
The Welsh Language Commissioner has published a regulatory policy statement setting out how organisations bound by the Welsh language standards must handle artificial intelligence. The core position is that an AI system delivering a service must treat Welsh no less favourably than English, and that automation is not a defence against non compliance.
Key points
- The policy applies to every organisation subject to the Welsh language standards introduced in 2016, and sets out eight core principles covering equity, linguistic accuracy, transparency, accountability, privacy.
- Named non compliance risks include chatbots that open in Welsh then revert to English, machine translation of official documents without review by a competent Welsh speaker.
- Osian Llywelyn, Deputy Welsh Language Commissioner and Director of Regulation, announced the policy alongside a panel discussion on Welsh language services and artificial intelligence held on the Bangor University stand.
- Bangor University sits at the centre of the story, which concerns the Bangor University announcement.
What's happening
Organisations are told to test systems in Welsh before deployment, to design bilingual services from the outset rather than building in English and translating afterwards, to question suppliers directly on Welsh support, and to keep records of the language used in AI assisted interactions. The statement also frames translators as language strategists and AI editors rather than staff displaced by the technology, and is described as a living document that will be revised as AI use develops.
On the detail released so far, Bangor University is the named party, the activity sits in North Wales.
No funding figure, timescale or headcount has been published alongside the announcement, so the scale of the work cannot yet be measured from the reporting itself.
Bangor University is the named party in the account, and the reporting is carried by Welsh Language Commissioner. Other partners, suppliers or funders have not been identified.
In their words
“The field of artificial intelligence is developing at a fast pace and is sure to fundamentally change how we communicate with each other and the world around us, while at the same time offering valuable opportunities to improve the services provided in Wales.”
Why it matters in Wales
For North Wales the substance of the Bangor University announcement sits in rural and cultural application, where applications built for rural and Welsh language contexts rarely arrive from outside, so work of this type has to be commissioned in Wales or it does not exist.
No figure has been disclosed alongside the Bangor University announcement, so the measure that counts in North Wales is recorded activity: rural and cultural application showing up in hiring, contracts or published outcomes rather than in further announcements.
Bangor University carries the delivery risk on this one. Capability in North Wales concentrates around a small number of institutions and anchor employers, so what Bangor University does after the Bangor University announcement shapes where the related skills and suppliers settle.
Within government, the Bangor University announcement should be read against what the rest of the UK already has in place, because Welsh organisations compete for the same funding, the same suppliers and the same shortage of experienced AI staff.
What we're watching
- •Delivery updates published by Bangor University on the work described.
- •What Osian Llywelyn confirms about its own role and contribution.
- •Whether the milestone set in 2016 is met on time.
- •Whether the same provision appears outside North Wales.
- •Measured rural and cultural application outcomes reported in North Wales.
- •Follow up reporting from Welsh Language Commissioner that adds figures, named partners or dates.
Original source: Welsh Language Commissioner · 7 August 2025