调查：生成式人工智能已导致超三分之一译者失业 Survey finds generative AI proving major threat to the work of translators

生成式人工智能导致超三分之一译者失业，这一次不是预言，而是现实。英国作家协会的调查还发现，超40%的译者因生成式人工智能的出现而收入减少，不过复杂的文学作品领域目前还未被人工智能攻占。

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发现，生成式人工智能已经导致超三分之一译者丢掉饭碗。超40%的译者表示，他们的收入因生成式人工智能的出现而减少了，与此同时超四分之三的译者认为这项新兴技术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月份开展的调查发现，37%的译者用生成式人工智能来辅助自己的工作，8%的译者使用这一技术是应出版商或委托机构的要求。

Thomas Bunstead, whose translations from Spanish include The Book of All Loves by 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：“尽管接受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，但文学翻译领域仍掌握在人类手中。”他指出，“被移交给人工智能处理的翻译工作是那种不复杂的实实在在的内容，没有那么多微妙之处需要翻译。”

"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 Blinding by 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·斯莫利认同这一观点，她表示“习语多、晦涩、复杂的内容”仍然需要人类来翻译。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，因为人工智能将全面进军复杂内容，我们以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 Cuckoo by 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获得的收入大幅减少。对于文学译者来说，失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，削减成本不只局限于非文学翻译工作。他之前合作过的一名专营电子书和有声读物的出版商已经转而采用一种名为“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查和微调。

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，尽管译者“对于在翻译中保持高质量的文学水准必不可少”，他们的“方法也需要随着技术的进步而进化”。该公司的首席执行官罗伯特·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“不牺牲创造力或质量”的前提下提高生产力。

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“比过去多得多的工作量”，因为译者需要仔细比对文本来找出理解错误的地方以及“文笔拙劣或不符合语言习惯”的表达方式。她说：“做过这种后期编辑的同事说，这需要比以前更加高度集中的注意力，因为人工智能生成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时期。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原因。”

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”.

接受该调查访问的787名英国作家协会会员包括小说和非小说作家、编剧、诗人、记者、插画师和译者，其中94%的人报告称自己的作品被用来开发生成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，“迫切需要”政府对人工智能工具进行监管，确保它们的开发和使用“合乎道德与法规”。

"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继续存在。很多人都拥有根植心底的翻译欲望，我也相信会有一群人喜欢看人类翻译的内容。”

英文来源：卫报

翻译&编辑：丹妮

审校：董静、齐磊