According to Kim Middel, Co-ordinator of Translations and Editing, the Language Centre has been receiving fewer and fewer texts since the rise of MT and ChatGPT. 'It is declining left and right. This not only affects us, but our colleague translation services, too. We see translation agencies lowering their rates to retain customers, but the profession as a whole is under enormous pressure. We are a dying breed.'
Post-editing
In addition to fewer assignments, which include editing texts and requests for help with translations, the Language Centre receives new types of requests. 'For example, we get a lot of texts that have been pre-translated with an online tool. And I can spot that from a mile off. Usually, I also know which tool was used. People often think that ChatGPT is a translation machine, but it is not: when it hallucinates, it can decide to add things or leave things out by it itself. In addition, people think that resulting translations by MT or ChatGPT are good, but the quality leaves much to be desired. Post-editing such texts is desperately needed, but takes a lot of time and is almost impossible without the original piece as a reference. And personally: it's also less fun.'
Privacy
The lack of attention to privacy also worries Middel. 'The moment you run a text through a translation machine, it is on the internet. How is privacy upheld? What guarantees do you have? People should consider carefully what information they do and do not share, such as scientific or personal data.'
Licentie
Of course, Middel understands that a quick translation is needed from time to time. 'If you do use a translation machine, use the translation function in Microsoft Word. The UT has a license for this, which means that Microsoft is not allowed to store or distribute texts. This offers a certain privacy guarantee. The quality is quite reasonable. In any case, I have the least work on it when it comes to post editing, compared to other translation tools. For example, there is DeepL, which, like ChatGPT, now adds or omits words to the translation without being asked. Google Translate is just rubbish and offers no protection whatsoever.'
The vehicle of the mind
For scientific and other official work, the advice remains to hire translators for translations. 'We are a technical university, with a lot of jargon and terminology. What words do you choose, what is the structure of your story, what message do you want to convey? A translator-editor can think along about that. After all, language is the vehicle of the mind.'
