Machine translation in society: insights from UK users

Abstract

AbstractMachine translation (MT) tools like Google Translate can overcome language barriers and increase access to information. These tools also carry risks, and their societal role remains understudied. This article investigates typical uses and perceptions of MT based on a survey of 1200 United Kingdom residents who were representative of the national population in terms of age, sex, and ethnicity. We highlight three main findings from our analysis. First, participants often used MT for non-essential purposes that rarely justified professional human translations. Second, while they were highly satisfied with MT they also expressed desires for higher MT quality. These desires were usually motivated by expectations of perfection rather than fitness for purpose. Third, participants’ future vision for MT involved increasingly blurred boundaries between text and speech. The article calls for more MT research on the interface between written and spoken communication and on the ethical implications of rare but significant high-risk uses of the technology.