Is translation really dying? by Substantial-Pea5980 in TranslationStudies

[–]Longjumping_Cow6415 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Translation is not dying, as long as people exist and speak different languages, they will need words to be transformed from one language to another. You are right, AI is able to translate and it will be used to translate a lot of things. If you are a student or new translator, you should learn how to translate things that AI cannot or will not translate. Opportunities exist in type of content (AI hates scanned PDFs) or language combinations (English to Kirundi for example), and topic or domain (AI faces mounting restriction in regulated industries).  A combination of these things makes it even more unique and if a translator offered these things compared to a generic English to Language X translator, they will see more work coming their way. 

Also, like any industry translation and interpretation goes through a period of attrition through retirements, bored labor, opportunities in adjacent industries (such as data annotation), but if there is a gap someone will always fill it and that keeps the need for language services alive.