Freelance translators, like many other professionals,
see dark clouds. The media feeds stories on the ever-improving ability of AI to
translate. Strangers innocently ask why anybody needs translators anymore.
Customers and income decrease month to month. It is all quite depressing but
not necessarily a full or accurate picture in the long term. On the contrary, paid translation needs are actually
expanding. Moreover, the market niches that AI is destroying have been in
decline for over a decade due to technological changes. In practice, AI changes
the translation business but not only does it not eliminate freelance business but
can even provide an opportunity to expand. It is reasonable to be cautiously
optimistic despite all the apparent omens.
In terms of current trends for language service
providers, which includes both agencies and freelancers, the future seems quite
optimistic. Based on the total volume of the worldwide agencies, demand for
linguistic services continues to increase steadily. Experts predict that the
value of these services will increase approximately 28% from 2024 to 2027 to
around 90 billion USD. World trade and the needs of international commerce will
continue to feed the demand. To be fair, international agencies are taking a
lion’s share of business with freelancers struggling with downward pressure on
their rates. B2B business, without agencies, requires more marketing effort,
skill and confidence, which many freelancers lack. Yet, in practice, there is
a steady demand for translators.
It is important to note that translation technology,
which includes but is not limited to AI, shapes which niches will remain and even expand and which ones will decline and disappear. For ten years, machine translation
of all types has automated the translation process. Computer Assisted
Translation (CAT) and translation memory began defining the work process over 15
years ago. Machine translation, most notably Google Translation, has made
simple translation accessible and free to the average person for almost 20
years. More specialized translation memories, in particular neural translation
in recent years, make it possible to effectively translate large masses of
specialized legal and other material in a short time. There is less and less
work available for a general translator because of the plethora of no-cost
and sufficiently effective alternatives. By contrast, these machine
translations, including AI, struggle to produce effective results when the
message goes beyond mere understanding but requires precision or a human touch. Some fields suffering from a lack
of proficient human translators include medical, marketing, legal and technical
translation. Furthermore, the need for official certification of government
documents for court and bureaucratic purposes creates a steady market for
certified translators of all types. Specialists can find lucrative niches.
The various language technologies have changed the
whole panorama of translation in terms of methods and tasks. The use of CAT
tools is a requirement for many projects and has significantly increased
productivity and shaped its rates. Machine translation serves as a basis for many initial drafts,
either in terms of suggestions or complete translation. AI can instantly
produce a large-scale translation, albeit of highly uneven quality. Thus, the
translator’s work may involve editing machine translation, actual translation
or both. Clearly, not every freelancer wishes to be involved in editing but
those that accept it and do it efficiently and effectively are in demand. By
contrast, those freelancers that completely reject technology find their market
shrinking. The name of the game is constant adaptation.
Thus, it is clear that translation is not only not a
dying profession but instead one with a future. Technology will shape its
future, as it has done in its past and present. Specialized and flexible
translators can find an opportunity to make a living. The most difficult period
is the transition during which the advantages and limitations of each new
digital tool emerge and define the market. AI is not the end of human
translators just as Google Translate and its cousins were not. They merely shaped the
profession. It is most probable that for the foreseeable future human
translators will continue to handle those tasks where it is important to fully convey the meaning of one language in another language and where approximation is not
sufficient as well as ensure that machine translation does not create
unnecessary or even dangerous mistranslations. Many current AI uses will return
to human translation as issues arise from AI translation. I am cautiously optimistic about the future of
translation despite AI.
No comments:
Post a Comment