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Dutch publisher to trial using AI for English-language translations (feddit.org)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The largest book publisher in The Netherlands has confirmed it plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to translate some of its books into English, The Bookseller can exclusively reveal.

Utrecht-headquartered publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK) was acquired by Simon & Schuster earlier this year. It was Simon & Schuster’s first acquisition of a non-English-language publisher, which it said at the time would help it access “broader European markets”.

A spokesperson for VBK told The Bookseller: “We are working on a limited experiment with some Dutch authors, for their books to be translated into English language using AI. There will be one editing phase, and authors have been asked to give permission for this.

[...]

Ian Giles, chair of the Translators Association at the Society of Authors (SoA), said: “This is concerning news. Earlier this year, the SoA found that one third of literary translators are already losing work to AI. Where work itself is not lost, translators struggle to increase their prices in the face of the AI challenger. This pressure on translators’ incomes jeopardises our ability to support ourselves in what is a highly precarious industry.”

[...]

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

One thing I can tell you with confidence about the Netherlands is that people there almost invariably overestimate their proficiency in English, so adverts and public announcements and the like in English often have embarrassing mistakes, so I'd put money down that they're not going to hire a native speaker or perhaps even a chartered translator to check the translations.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This is very true, but I assume they are translating from English to Dutch.

Edit: I was wrong.

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