Unintended consequences of translation technologies: from project managers’ perspectives

Abstract

Acknowledgments I would like to extend my gratitude to the study participants for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their insights. This study was conducted as part of the larger project, When Translation Meets Technologies: Language Service Providers (LSPs) in the Digital Age, funded by the University of Portsmouth. Bio note Akiko Sakamoto is senior lecturer in translation studies and Japanese language at the University of Portsmouth, UK. She holds a PhD in translation studies from the University of Leicester, UK. Her research interests include sociology of translation, particularly the influence of technology on translation practitioners and users, pedagogy of translation and translation theories. She previously worked as an English -Japanese translator. 2 Unintended consequences of translation technologies: From project managers' perspectives Recent years have seen the advance of increasingly efficient translation and translation-related technologies such as neural machine translation and crowdsourcing-style translator procurement platforms. These AI, big-data and algorithm-driven online systems are hailed as successes in the media-and technology-vendor-led public discourse. However, in light of the notion of 'solutionism' (Morozov, 2013), there may be a risk that unintended adverse consequences of these technologies on users remain obscured. As a result, a correct assessment of the influence of technologies on human actors may become difficult. In order to identify such unintended consequences of translation technologies, the present article explores technology users' perceptions about how the technology is affecting their business practice. The discussion draws on data collected in a focus group study with 16 translation project managers. The study reveals that project managers are feeling a high level of uncertainty and unease about the effects of technology when they talk about business practices, particularly in the following areas: translators' use of MT, pricing for postediting, post-editors' profiles and skills and technology-induced new power struggles in the industry.

The Language Engineer: A Transversal, Emerging Role for the Automation Age

“…In other words, the technical and cognitive effort levels are not taken into account in this measure, and this could Quaderns de Filologia: Estudis Lingüístics XXVII: 17-48. doi: 10.7203/QF.27.24622 result in the amount eligible for payment being less than the actual amount of effort to perform the task. The automation of these processes, either of the translation process itself through MTPE, or of the calculation of the editing percentage to adapt the payment, or both at the same time, is causing some translation stakeholders to reject the use of technologies (Sakamoto, 2019). We have also recently seen statements from national and international organisations of professional translators denouncing the use of machine translation in translation processes, such as that of the Association of Audiovisual Translators of Spain 4 .…”

“…The effects of digitalization and automation in the language services world are noticeable and substantial, often leading to increased austerity, growing pressures to deliver projects as quickly as possible, and worsening conditions (Moorkens, 2017;Fırat, 2021;Pym & Torres-Simón, 2021). It is clear that technology has created a major disruption in the market, as evidenced by new workflows and the various studies mentioned above (Sakamoto, 2019). However, we consider that every change also offers room for opportunities, and technologies should not always be demonised because they may offer new professional prospects (do Carmo, 2020).…”

Teknologiavälitteinen kääntäminen

“…Algoritmivälitteinen lähestymis tapa ja tiedon epäsymmetria häiritsevät näistä seikoista neuvottelua sekä tehtävään sopivimman kääntäjän ja mielekkäiden välineiden valintaa. (Artegiani 2021;Sakamoto 2018Sakamoto , 2019 Kääntämisen dematerialisoituminen teknologia välitteisissä prosesseissa ja mielikuvat mekaanisesta toiminnasta saattavat heikentää kääntämisen arvostusta ja tehdä ihmiset entistä haluttomammiksi maksamaan käännöstyöstä (Cronin 2013, 135;Doherty 2016, 963). Narratiiveilla ja käsityksillä on siis konkreettisia käytännön vaikutuksia.…”

Translating perceptions and managing expectations: an analysis of management and production perspectives on machine translation

“…25-27), MT was not the focus of the interviews, in which the management perspective was represented by a single project manager. Another case in point is Sakamoto, Rodríguez, Berthaud, and Evans's (2017) analysis of focus-group interviews involving project managers in the UK (see also Sakamoto, 2019). Sakamoto et al found that project managers do not always have access to information on how and how much translators may be using MT.…”