Comments on: Freelance Translators Face Existential Crisis Amid AI Boom: should they adapt or make a career change?

By: Akari Minami

Akari Minami — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 09:24:06 +0000

This blog raises such an important and timely discussion about the challenges faced by freelance translators in the age of AI. Adapting to evolving technologies while valuing human expertise is key, and this post offers valuable insights for navigating this transition.

By: Katherine Steiner-Dicks

Katherine Steiner-Dicks — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 10:14:00 +0000

In reply to Mags. Mags, apologies. Your comment was not spotted. It is online now. However, most comments need to go through a verification process to avoid spam.

By: Mags

Mags — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 07:57:28 +0000

I left a comment, but it hasn’t been posted. YOu really should let people post cmments in the interest of transparency.

By: Mags

Mags — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:55:21 +0000

As a freelance translator, I do not agree with the findings. Rather than making the work more efficient, we are expected to improve productivity tenfold. The nuance and skill of translation are to create flowing, well-crafted text that captures both the meaning and the spirit of the original. It is both a skill and an art.

Post-editing requires you to work much faster with dry machine-produced text. The work is far less satisfying. In fact, it’s just plain stressful and repetitive, far more so than before AI. There is very little, if any, creativity involved, and there is no crafting of language. The QA process often makes no sense, and it’s usuallly negative e experience. You get negative feedback on parameters that are often unclear, totally incorrect, and machine-produced. If you’re a wordsmith and love language, the new “approach to translation” is the first circle of hell.

You are paid much less for intensive, unsatisfying work, correcting a machine. The satisfaction, the art, and the skill are not appreciated or required.