Human Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence in Professional Translations — Redesigning the Translator Profession

Abstract

Human intelligence (HI) has used artificial intelligence (AI) in professional translations for many years. What has been so far a helpful tool for translators, turns out to be a formidable competitor. The article tackles the topic of the danger represented by the dramatic reconfiguration of a job, which risks losing much of its consistency, getting closer and closer to post-editing. HI and AI performances in the translator profession are approached from an economic perspective, setting as criteria for analysis the elements that define the price and survival on the market: source language, target language, type of document, content subject, delivery date, the volume of text to be translated, the competence of the translator, availability of the translator, capability to learn, costs, accuracy and risk of errors. The methodological analysis of a representative sample of different texts from the economic field translated into five foreign languages, reveals that the results provided by AI are fully acceptable and competitive with the versions generated by HI. In this context, the article warns about the need to rethink the training of translators and the sustainability of their activity in the economic market.