| Páginas no tópico: < [1 2 3] > | AI Impact Tópico cartaz: Iman Tahanan
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I was very directly affected by the war, but this is a conjunctural issue. However, from August until now I have noticed a brutal drop, it is not a transformation of the work, that already happened in previous years, it is simply that the agencies no longer have the same flow of work that is being diverted towards AI, discarding intermediaries.
| | | | Baran Keki 
Turquia
Local time: 22:42
Membro
inglês para turco
| Sumit Sarkar
Índia
Local time: 01:12
Membro
inglês para bengali
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| "specialize" in literature! | Feb 13 |
it's better to specialize in areas that are not so technical, like literature.
Firstly, rate of translating literatures is never attractive. I mean that is a very honorable and difficult job to do, though is not as rewarding as translating legal, medical, technical etc. documents in terms of rates that one may get.
Secondly, I have every doubt if one can "specialize" in literature. It's because every second literature is unique. Moreover, there are authors who keep changing their style in every second output they produce. So, for certain authors no common style exists that could be categorized a unique style and could be internalized/specialized as a translator.
[Edited at 2025-02-13 19:34 GMT]
| | | | | Scams, hallucinations and mistranslations | Feb 13 |
Innocent people are already being harmed by AI scams, AI hallucinations and AI mistranslations.
Simple everyday examples are the customer service chatbots giving wrong instructions.
The World Wide Web is infested with AI mistranslations, those could harm innocent people too.
In some cases, very seriously > https://slate.com/technology/2022/09/machine-translation-accuracy-government-danger.html
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PAS
Local time: 20:42
polonês para inglês
+ ...
@Maria Laura - interesting read, thanks, however, is anyone with an inkling of critical thinking surprised?
This is another of contemporary society's great failings - taking everything at face value without stopping to think "uh, wait a minute..." This is especially dangerous if one is translating into an alphabet they cannot decipher.
Indirectly, this is why scammers are so successful.
[Edited at 2025-02-14 08:45 GMT]
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PAS wrote:
@Maria Laura - interesting read, thanks, however, is anyone with an inkling of critical thinking surprised?
This is another of contemporary society's great failings - taking everything at face value without stopping to think "uh, wait a minute..." This is especially dangerous if one is translating into an alphabet they cannot decipher.
Indirectly, this is why scammers are so successful.
[Edited at 2025-02-14 08:45 GMT]
And it's also the reason AI is growing so fast and all the surrounding hype.
AI developers are most of the tech major players, and their mainstream narrative about AI spreads everywhere on the multimedia channels they own. In a globalized society where brain rot is the trend —a trend also created by the same mainstream tech billionaire companies— AI is king.
But, I'm optimistic, because IMPOV, it won't last for too long —I'm talking in the long term, like more than 5 years—, as virtual trends change too fast and economical instability will impact on the money invested in AI so it will slow down the developments.
I think, in order to correct AI hallucinations, mistranslation, biases, copyrights infringements, privacy issues and other big problems AI currently has, tech developers will need to invest trillions of dollars; the kind of money that only the giant companies have (Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Open AI). So, the rest of the developers will eventually stop its development due to not having the money or will be bought by a bigger fish, reducing the players and the AI offer as well.
In my opinion, we have to pass the hype without being carried away by all this catastrophic and apocalyptical narrative toward AI in translation industry. If we need to become post editors while the hype is high, if we have to be creative, so be it, it won't be the first time translators reinvent themselves, and, in this occasion, time is on our side.
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Today, I just found this news post > https://www.proz.com/translation-news/?p=158087
It has all the hype I was talking about above, starting with an overwritten tittle about big revenues grow for the next few years.
Then, when scrolling down until the sixth subtitle, it says:
Restraints and Challenges:
Despite the market's growth, several challenges could hinder its progress. One of the key challenges is the need for high-quality, context-sensitive translations. Machine translation, while improving, still faces limitations in accurately capturing the nuances of different languages, especially in complex technical and legal texts. Furthermore, data privacy concerns and regulatory issues related to the use of translation tools and AI are increasing. These factors could restrict the adoption of new technologies, as organizations need to ensure that translations meet compliance standards while safeguarding sensitive information.
There should be a big disclaimer explaining that all the bombastic market forecast, are just a huge hype that might not happen.
I'm a firm believer in low expectations and less anxiety, so when the bubble burst, the fall isn't that hard.
| | | | Vanessa Dias
Brasil
Local time: 16:42
Membro (2022)
inglês para português
+ ...
Secondly, I have every doubt if one can "specialize" in literature. It's because every second literature is unique. Moreover, there are authors who keep changing their style in every second output they produce. So, for certain authors no common style exists that could be categorized a unique style and could be internalized/specialized as a translator.
[Edited at 2025-02-13 19:34 GMT] [/quote]
I agree with you, actually. But there are translators that work just for publ... See more Secondly, I have every doubt if one can "specialize" in literature. It's because every second literature is unique. Moreover, there are authors who keep changing their style in every second output they produce. So, for certain authors no common style exists that could be categorized a unique style and could be internalized/specialized as a translator.
[Edited at 2025-02-13 19:34 GMT] [/quote]
I agree with you, actually. But there are translators that work just for publishers; that's what I meant, although, yeah, it's hard to call that an specialization.
[Editada em 2025-02-23 03:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| The biggest drop since 2021 | Feb 22 |
I have to say the January-February drop I am seeing this year is very concerning. I worked as a young translator between 2007 and 2020 not earning very much, then had 3 big years (2021/2022/2023) and last year my earnings started decreasing. 2025 started very badly, especially compared to December 2024 which was quite good (compared to the rest of 2024). Still not close to my low earnings before COVID, but that's where I will end up. From my experience start of the year is never good as the end ... See more I have to say the January-February drop I am seeing this year is very concerning. I worked as a young translator between 2007 and 2020 not earning very much, then had 3 big years (2021/2022/2023) and last year my earnings started decreasing. 2025 started very badly, especially compared to December 2024 which was quite good (compared to the rest of 2024). Still not close to my low earnings before COVID, but that's where I will end up. From my experience start of the year is never good as the end of the year, because Italian companies likely feel they have to "finish" projects before Christmas and New Year, then all the new projects take a little bit of time to start flowing again, but surely something is different this year. I think some work is there but at very low rates, that is why my clients are not contacting me and when I look for new ones, they offer aroud 0,025 EUR per word for translation, which would have been a scandal a few years ago, but now... I think we will come to terms with that as well...
[Modificato alle 2025-02-22 16:32 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Bélgica
Local time: 20:42
Membro (2020)
francês para holandês
+ ...
Nicoletta Micheli wrote:
they offer aroud 0,025 EUR per word for translation, which would have been a scandal a few years ago, but now...
Even today it's still a scandal. No serious fulltime freelancer can work at those rates, so who does work for them? Desperate fulltime translators that are near the end of their business (inevitably if they accept these rates), translators that live in a country with a low standard of living and parttime translators that don't necessarily need the money. Everybody else just couldn't and wouldn't.
| | | | Tomasso
Estados Unidos
Local time: 12:42
Membro (2008)
espanhol para inglês
+ ...
| MT, Traduction Assistee Ordinateur, TAO, Tracuccion Automatica | Feb 24 |
Last translation paid for was Romanian to English, a few decades back. Forty years ago, wll paid for work about agriculture and the new ISO for farm chemcicals....
Or transcription hand written recorda of business records....
Today, just play around with AI, mostly correcting the MISTAKES. Classic Oriental to English , and then the poor English into Russian.....https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-russian/engineering-general/7193384-cross-recessed-socket-head-cap-s... See more Last translation paid for was Romanian to English, a few decades back. Forty years ago, wll paid for work about agriculture and the new ISO for farm chemcicals....
Or transcription hand written recorda of business records....
Today, just play around with AI, mostly correcting the MISTAKES. Classic Oriental to English , and then the poor English into Russian.....https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-russian/engineering-general/7193384-cross-recessed-socket-head-cap-self-tapping-flat-tail-screw.html
I just ell everyone I am using AI, and have just a rudimentary recognition of alphabets that are not ROMAN.
EXCERPT,,, mais,,,je suid egoiste peut'etre,,,,pues soy FAN FARPN talvez???
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com › zh_TW
·
Translate this page
Phillips Flat Head 自鑽螺絲- 410 不鏽鋼; 82 度埋頭平頭與安裝表面齊平。 TEK 自鑽點快速且易於安裝- 全螺紋提供絕佳的固定性; 耐腐蝕410 不銹鋼，適合外部使用 ...
The foregoing describes site...https://www.amazon.com/-/zh_TW/Phillips-平頭自鑽螺絲-410-不鏽鋼-板金螺絲/...
Chines 十字槽沉... translated as Cross recessed countersunk... Would say Phillips couter sunk head.
This is based on Artificial Intelligence, is it possible to get original Chinesse and post under Chinese to Russian ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vincenzo Di Maso
Portugal
Local time: 19:42
Membro (2009)
inglês para italiano
+ ...
| hard times with rates | Feb 24 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Nicoletta Micheli wrote:
they offer aroud 0,025 EUR per word for translation, which would have been a scandal a few years ago, but now...
Even today it's still a scandal. No serious fulltime freelancer can work at those rates, so who does work for them? Desperate fulltime translators that are near the end of their business (inevitably if they accept these rates), translators that live in a country with a low standard of living and parttime translators that don't necessarily need the money. Everybody else just couldn't and wouldn't.
Around 15 years ago I wrote on ProZ and in other forums that the worst danger would be skilled translators working at very low rates. A few people agreed, many others disagreed. Now I know for sure that too many skilled translators work at 0.05 or 0.06 EUR per word for Italian.
I was told that my rates (0.07 or 0.08) were too low: the issue is that agencies are unwilling to pay those rates now. That's why I prefer not to work unless clients accept my fees. And I came to know that too many colleagues practice what they preach, i.e. they say in public they work at 0.09 or 0.10 but they eventually charge 0.05. And I know they are top-tier translators...
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| Post-truth, post-quality world | Feb 24 |
In today's world, truth is shaped by tech bros and marketers.
If Google says a product is good, then it must be good. If you don't think it's good, then you're doing something wrong ("user error"). Who cares if all those positive reviews were written by bots or paid reviewers?
Likewise, if tech bros say AI is good enough, then it surely is. If you think otherwise, then you must be an old weirdo who needs to get on with the times. Who cares if you can't make ends meet? ... See more In today's world, truth is shaped by tech bros and marketers.
If Google says a product is good, then it must be good. If you don't think it's good, then you're doing something wrong ("user error"). Who cares if all those positive reviews were written by bots or paid reviewers?
Likewise, if tech bros say AI is good enough, then it surely is. If you think otherwise, then you must be an old weirdo who needs to get on with the times. Who cares if you can't make ends meet? Billionaires and shareholders need their profits.
In 2025, burger-flipping teens in the US and freelancers "shaping the future of AI" by participating in "exciting projects" make the same amount of money: 8 USD/hour. The same rate is offered by a very well-known subtitling company (recently merged with another mega-company, creating a huge multinational) that claims to only need "light post-editing" of AI-produced subtitles.
Clearly, they must think we're monkeys in a cage, that's why they're throwing peanuts at us. But who's brave enough to escape the zoo? That's the question.
[Edited at 2025-02-24 13:26 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Bélgica
Local time: 20:42
Membro (2020)
francês para holandês
+ ...
Vincenzo Di Maso wrote:
And I came to know that too many colleagues practice what they preach, i.e. they say in public they work at 0.09 or 0.10 but they eventually charge 0.05. And I know they are top-tier translators...
They are working themselves poor, then. I couldn't afford to work for 0.05 in conventional translation, 0.08 being the strict minimum.
| | | | Vincenzo Di Maso
Portugal
Local time: 19:42
Membro (2009)
inglês para italiano
+ ...
| It depends on the area | Feb 24 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Vincenzo Di Maso wrote:
And I came to know that too many colleagues practice what they preach, i.e. they say in public they work at 0.09 or 0.10 but they eventually charge 0.05. And I know they are top-tier translators...
They are working themselves poor, then. I couldn't afford to work for 0.05 in conventional translation, 0.08 being the strict minimum.
An American agency (yes, from USA) offered me 6 USD per page. I replied that my rate for translation is 0.10 USD per word. They didn't dare to respond.
The Italian market has collapsed and I am pretty sure it will no longer rise. I'm really upset.
Instead of accepting ridiculous rates I prefer not to work
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