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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Ella Creamer

Survey finds generative AI proving major threat to the work of translators

Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Rodel after they won the 2023 International Booker prize for translated fiction for Time Shelter.
Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Rodel after they won the 2023 International Booker prize for translated fiction for Time Shelter. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

More than a third of translators have lost work due to generative AI, a survey by the Society of Authors (SoA) has found. More than four in 10 translators said that their income has decreased because of generative AI, while more than three-quarters believe the emerging technology will negatively affect their future income.

The SoA, the UK’s largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, ran the survey in January. It found that 37% of translators had used generative AI to support their work, and 8% used it because they were asked by their publisher or commissioning organisation.

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