THE IMPACT OF AI ON HUMAN TRANSLATION: WILL TRANSLATORS AND LOCALIZATION EXPERTS DISAPPEAR IN THE JOB MARKET AND BE REPLACED BY AI-POWERED TRANSLATION TOOLS

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of AI in translation, particularly in the context of machine-translated texts and the differences between HT and MT. The focus of this investigation is to discover whether this software can compete with the skills of professional translators and eventually replace them. The trigger comes mainly from articles on machine translation vs human translation that I read to have a broader view of this topic. Artificial intelligence seems to have revolutionized machine translation technology in recent times. On the one hand, one of the benefits is that AI-powered translation tools can quickly translate large volumes of content, whereas on the other hand, AI translation still has plenty of pitfalls: some source texts can be misinterpreted and this could lead to inaccuracies and errors, as well as to cultural insensitivity or bias. My research aims to discover whether in the future translators and localization experts will disappear in the job market or whether new job roles will emerge instead as a result of AI. The literature review describes in detail theoretical issues with regard to ethical considerations for AI-powered translation. It also makes reference to a few key findings from former research. The data gathering process consists mainly of qualitative semi-structured interviews with Italian four professional translators, interview transcripts and content analysis which I used to examine and interpret data and findings.