2 weeks ago
AI is flooding online book market with poor translations
Some people are using computers called AI to translate old books very quickly, and they sell them online as if a real person translated them.
These translations are often not very good.
A translator and teacher bought a book by Jules Verne and quickly realized a computer had translated it.
Real translators spend months or even years working on one book, so they are upset that quick computer-made translations take their place.
The computer-made translations are usually of old books that anyone can use for free, like books by Fyodor Dostoevsky or Niccolo Machiavelli.
You can spot them because the covers often look unprofessional, the translator's name may not be a real person, and there may be no publisher listed.
Even the pages might not have the normal indented paragraphs you see in real books.
The article also warns that AI translations can repeat old-fashioned and unfair stereotypes.
Readers should be careful when buying translated books online.
Online stores like Amazon say they are trying to fix this problem.
Low-quality, undisclosed AI-assisted translations are flooding the online book market, often presented as professional human translations.
Amazon is one retailer where such translations appear, though the company says it is aware of the problem and claims to be addressing it.
Published translator Terry Bradford discovered the practice after buying a Jules Verne novel whose 'modern' translation was archaic in style and poorly presented.
The practice targets long-dead public-domain authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky and Niccolo Machiavelli, whose works are easy to copy and machine-translate.
Telltale signs include unprofessional covers, ghost translator names with no online presence, no listed publisher, and missing indented paragraphs.
- Who
- Terry Bradford, a published translator of French and Belgian literature and Lecturer in French and Translation at the University of Leeds, writing for The Conversation.
- What
- Low-quality, undisclosed AI-assisted translations of classic literature are flooding online book markets, often presented as professional human translations.
- Where
- Online book retailers such as Amazon.
- When
- Not specified in the article; the practice is described as having expanded since the advent of AI.
- Why
- Easy online access to public-domain classics and user-friendly self-publishing platforms allow anyone to publish machine-translated texts, pushing professional translators to the back of the marketplace.
Professional translators
AI-assisted publishing advocates
AI-assisted translations in the book market
Professional translators
AI-assisted translations are low quality, push the crafted work of qualified human translators to the back of the marketplace, and can reproduce outdated stereotypes.
AI-assisted publishing advocates
Machine translation tools, easy access to public-domain classics and self-publishing platforms mean anyone can publish and market a text as a translation, increasing access to literature.
Retailer responsibility
Professional translators
Retailers like Amazon are being used to flood the market with poor AI-assisted translations and should do more to address the problem.
AI-assisted publishing advocates
Amazon is aware of the problem and claims to be addressing it.
Key facts
- Article author
- Terry Bradford, Lecturer in French and Translation, University of Leeds
- Retailer mentioned
- Amazon, which says it is aware of the problem and claims to be addressing it
- Example purchase
- A Jules Verne novel in English, bought online, returned within three minutes
- Commonly targeted authors
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Niccolo Machiavelli, Jules Verne
- Languages most commonly involved
- French, Russian, German and (Medieval) Italian
- Telltale signs
- Unprofessional covers, ghost translator names, no translator photo, no publisher, no indented paragraphs
- First published by
- The Conversation
- Author's credentials
- Published translator of French and Belgian literature; teaches literary translation to MA students
Quotes
Terry Bradford
Lecturer in French and Translation, University of Leeds
“I first became aware of the practice when I purchased a Jules Verne novel in English online. The book presents as the work of a human translator and styles itself as “for a modern readership”. Within three minutes of opening the book, I had got my money back. Why? Style-wise, there was nothing “modern” about the “translation” – the style was as archaic as the first translation in 1877. And the presentation of the text was woeful by industry standards. It was clear AI had been used, but not discl”
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Sources
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