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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.

英国作家协会的一项调查创造，天生式人工智能已经导致超三分之一译者丧失落饭碗。
超40%的译者表示，他们的收入因天生式人工智能的涌现而减少了，与此同时超四分之三的译者认为这项新兴技能会对他们未来的收入产生负面影响。

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.

英国作家协会是英国最大的作家、插画师和译者的工会组织。
该协会在1月份开展的调查创造，37%的译者用天生式人工智能来赞助自己的事情，8%的译者利用这一技能是应出版商或委托机构的哀求。

Thomas Bunstead, whose translations from Spanish include The Book of All Lovesby Agustín Fernández Mallo, said it is important to draw a distinction between literary translators and “commercial” translators. “Though a third of translators have responded to the SoA survey saying they think they’ve lost work to AI already, literary translation remains in the hands of humans,” he said. “The work that has presumably been handed over to AI will be the kind of uncomplicated bread-and-butter stuff which doesn’t require so much nuance,” such as instruction manuals.

托马斯·邦斯特德将西班牙语作品翻译成英文，翻译作品包括奥古斯丁·费尔南德斯·马洛的《众爱之书》。
他表示，有必要将文学译者和“商业”译者区分开来。
他说：“只管接管英国作家协会调查的译者有三分之一认为人工智能抢走了他们的饭碗，但文学翻译领域仍节制在人类手中。
”他指出，“被移交给人工智能处理的翻译事情是那种不繁芜的实实在在的内容，没有那么多奇妙之处须要翻译。
”

\公众Idiomatic, knotty and complex writing,” is likely to remain with human translators, agrees Nichola Smalley, whose translations from Swedish and Norwegian include A System So Magnificent It Is Blindingby Amanda Svensson. “But perhaps the people translating crime and romance novels who are currently getting less work due to AI will all start getting into the complex stuff and we’ll all be fighting for space in that niche. I hope not!”

尼古拉·斯莫利认同这一不雅观点，她表示“习语多、晦涩、繁芜的内容”仍旧须要人类来翻译。
斯莫利将瑞典语和挪威语作品翻译成英文，翻译作品包括阿曼达·斯文森的《一家三口》。
她说：“但可能翻译犯罪和言情小说的人现在接到的活儿会变少，由于人工智能将全面进军繁芜内容，我们往后都得在人工智能尚未触及的那点空间内你争我夺。
希望不会如此！
”

Ian Giles, the co-chair of the Translators Association whose translations from Scandinavian languages into English include the forthcoming The Cuckooby Camilla Läckberg, said that his income from commercial translation work has fallen significantly since the beginning of 2023. The loss of non-literary streams of income for literary translators will mean the “raising of the bar to entry into the industry, with only those with wealth able to translate literature for publication”. He also said that cost-cutting is not confined to non-literary translation – a publisher specialising in ebooks and audiobooks for which he previously translated has switched to a process known as post-editing, when an AI translator has a first go at translating a text before a human editor checks it and makes tweaks.

英国翻译协会共同会长伊恩·吉尔斯将斯堪的纳维亚语系的作品翻译成英文，包括即将出版的卡米拉·拉克伯格的《布谷鸟》。
他表示自2023年初以来他从翻译商务资料当中得到的收入大幅减少。
对付文学译者来说，失落去非文学收入来源将意味着“进入这一行业的门槛提高了，只有那些不差钱的人才能翻译和出版文学作品。
”他还指出，减少本钱不但局限于非文学翻译事情。
他之前互助过的一名专营电子书和有声读物的出版商已经转而采取一种名为“后期编辑”的流程，先让人工智能翻译文本，再让人类编辑进行检讨和微调。

Nuanxed, a company which facilitates translation via post-editing, said that while translators are “essential in maintaining high quality literature in translation”, their “methodologies will need to evolve alongside technological advancements”. CEO Robert Casten Carlberg said that “integrating AI into the translators’ toolbox” will enhance productivity “without sacrificing creativity or quality”.

通过后期编辑来优化翻译的Nuanxed公司表示，只管译者“对付在翻译中保持高质量的文学水准必不可少”，他们的“方法也须要随着技能的进步而进化”。
该公司的首席实行官罗伯特·卡斯滕·卡尔伯格表示，“将人工智能整合到译者的工具箱中”将能在“不捐躯创造力或质量”的条件下提高生产力。

However, Smalley said there are concerns that post-editing can create “a lot more work” for translators, who have to carefully compare texts to catch misreadings and “poor or unidiomatic” style. “Colleagues who have done this kind of post-editing work say that it requires a far higher degree of attention, because the AI generated text often reads so plausibly,” she said.

然而，斯莫利表示，有人担心后期编辑会给译者带来“比过去多得多的事情量”，由于译者须要仔细比对文本来找出理解缺点的地方以及“文笔拙劣或不符合措辞习气”的表达办法。
她说：“做过这种后期编辑的同事说，这须要比以前更加高度集中的把稳力，由于人工智能天生的文本读起来往往都貌似合理。
”

Bunstead said that “translators, like all freelancers, can go through lean periods. They won’t always know for certain the reasons why, but AI is currently the obvious explanation.”

邦斯特德指出：“和所有自由职业者一样，译者可能会经历一段困难期间。
他们不一定都清楚收入为何减少，但人工智能是目前最显而易见的缘故原由。
”

Of the 787 SoA members who responded – including writers of fiction and nonfiction, scriptwriters, poets and journalists, as well as illustrators and translators – 94% reported wanting credit or compensation when their work is used to develop generative AI tools. In light of the survey, the SoA said that there is an “urgent need” for government regulation of AI tools to ensure they are developed and used “ethically and lawfully”.

接管该调查访问的787名英国作家协会会员包括小说和非小说作家、编剧、墨客、、插画师和译者，个中94%的人报告称自己的作品被用来开拓天生式人工智能工具时没有署名或补偿。
鉴于这一调查结果，英国作家协会表示，“急迫须要”政府对人工智能工具进行监管，确保它们的开拓和利用“合乎道德与法规”。

\"大众I’m certain that the act of creative and literary translation will live on in one shape or another,” said Giles. “For many there is a deep-seated desire to translate and I also believe there is an audience that desires human-translated content.”

吉尔斯说：“我确信创造性和文学翻译行为会以某种形式连续存在。
很多人都拥有根植心底的翻译希望，我也相信会有一群人喜好看人类翻译的内容。
”

英文来源：卫报

翻译&编辑：丹妮

审校：董静、齐磊

来源：中国日报网