There are sectors where AI has entered them with more impact. This is one of them
As a rare Irish-language translator, Timothy McKeon has worked steadily for the institutions of the European Union for years. But the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools capable of translating text and, increasingly, speech almost instantly has put his livelihood and that of many others in his sector at risk.
He says he lost around 70% of his income when translation work in the EU dried up. Currently, the work available consists of polishing machine-generated translations, tasks he refuses “on principle” because they help train the software that takes work away from human translators. When the edited text is reintroduced into the translation software, it “learns from the work” done by humans.
“The more software learns, the more obsolete we become,” he says. “I’m essentially expected to dig my own professional grave.”
As workers around the world reflect on how AI could affect their livelihoods — a topic that was only recently on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos — this question is no longer hypothetical in the translation industry. Apps like Google Translate have already reduced the need for human translators and the growing adoption of generative AI has only accelerated this trend.
A 2024 survey of writing professionals by the UK Society of Authors reveals that more than a third of translators had lost work due to generative AI, which can create sophisticated text, as well as images and audio, from user suggestions. And 43% of translators said their income has decreased due to technology.
In the United States, data from 2010-23 analyzed by Carl Frey and Pedro Llanos-Paredes at the University of Oxford showed that regions where Google Translate was used most saw slower growth in the number of translator jobs. Originally powered by statistical translation, Google Translate switched to a technique called ‘neural translation’ in 2016, resulting in more natural-sounding text and bringing it closer to current AI tools.
“Our best baseline estimate is that about 28,000 additional jobs for translators would have been created in the absence of machine translation,” Frey tells CNN.
“This isn’t a mass displacement story, but I think it’s very likely to happen.”
The story is similar around the world, suggests McKeon, who is part of the Guerrilla Media Collective, an international group of translators and communications professionals – he says all members of the collective supplement their income with other work due to the impact of AI.
“All of America is looking at Wisconsin”
Christina Green is president of Green Linguistics, a language services provider, and a court interpreter in Wisconsin.
He fears his role on the court could soon disappear due to a bill that would allow courts to use AI or another type of machine translation in civil or criminal cases — and in other cases.
Green and other language professionals have been fighting the proposal since its introduction in May. “All of America is looking to Wisconsin” as a precedent, Green points out, noting that opponents of the bill have so far managed to block it.
While Green still has her job at the courthouse, her company recently lost a major Fortune 10 client, who she said chose to use a company that offers AI translation. The client was responsible for such a large part of Green’s company’s business that she had to face layoffs.
“People and companies think they are saving money with AI but they have no idea what it is, how privacy is affected and what the ramifications are,” argues Green.
“Governments are not doing enough”
London-based Fardous Bahbouh is an Arabic-language translator and interpreter for international media organizations, including CNN. He has seen a considerable reduction in written work in recent years, which he attributes to technological developments and the financial pressures facing media outlets.
Bahbouh is also studying for a PhD focusing on the translation industry. Their research shows that technology, including AI, is having a “huge impact” on translators and interpreters.
“I worry very much that governments are not doing enough to help them transition to another type of work, which could lead to greater inequality, in-work poverty and child poverty,” he tells CNN.
Many translators are, in fact, seeking new training “because translation is not generating the income it previously did,” according to Ian Giles, translator and president of the UK Society of Authors Translators Association. The situation is similar in the United States: many translators are leaving the profession, says Andy Benzo, president of the American Translators Association, to CNN.
And Kristalina Georgieva, director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recently stated in Davos that the number of translators and interpreters at the IMF had decreased from 200 to 50 due to greater use of technology.
Governments should also do more for those who remain in the translation industry by introducing stronger labor protections, argues Bahbouh.
Human professionals still needed
Despite advances in machine translation and interpretation, the technology still cannot fully replace human language workers.
While using AI tools for everyday tasks like finding directions is “low risk,” human translators will likely need to be involved in the near future in diplomatic, legal, financial and medical contexts, where the risks are “enormous,” according to Benzo.
“I’m a translator and a lawyer and, in both professions, the nuance of each word is very specific and the [grandes modelos linguísticos que alimentam as ferramentas de IA] They are not yet useful for that, in any way”, he emphasizes.
Another domain relatively untouched by machine translation tools is literary translation.
Giles, who translates commercial fiction from Scandinavian languages into English, used to supplement his income with corporate translation work, but that has disappeared. Meanwhile, literary orders continued to arrive, he says.
There’s also a key element of communication that AI can’t replace, according to Oxford University’s Frey: human connection.
“Just because machine translation is widespread doesn’t mean you can establish a relationship with someone in France without speaking a word of French,”
