生成式人工智能導致超三分之一譯者失業，這一次不是預言，而是現實。英國作家協會的調查還發現，超40%的譯者因生成式人工智能的出現而收入減少，不過復雜的文學作品領域目前還未被人工智能攻占。

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.

英國作家協會的一項調查發現，生成式人工智能已經導致超三分之一譯者丟掉飯碗。超40%的譯者表示，他們的收入因生成式人工智能的出現而減少了，與此同時超四分之三的譯者認為這項新興技術會對他們未來的收入產生負面影響。

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.

英國作家協會是英國最大的作家、插畫師和譯者的工會組織。該協會在1月份開展的調查發現，37%的譯者用生成式人工智能來輔助自己的工作，8%的譯者使用這一技術是應出版商或委托機構的要求。

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.

托馬斯·邦斯特德將西班牙語作品翻譯成英文，翻譯作品包括奧古斯丁·費爾南德斯·馬洛的《眾愛之書》。他表示，有必要將文學譯者和“商業”譯者區分開來。他說：“盡管接受英國作家協會調查的譯者有三分之一認為人工智能搶走了他們的飯碗，但文學翻譯領域仍掌握在人類手中。”他指出，“被移交給人工智能處理的翻譯工作是那種不復雜的實實在在的內容，沒有那么多微妙之處需要翻譯。”

"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·斯莫利認同這一觀點，她表示“習語多、晦澀、復雜的內容”仍然需要人類來翻譯。斯莫利將瑞典語和挪威語作品翻譯成英文，翻譯作品包括阿曼達·斯文森的《一家三口》。她說：“但可能翻譯犯罪和言情小說的人現在接到的活兒會變少，因為人工智能將全面進軍復雜內容，我們以后都得在人工智能尚未觸及的那點空間內你爭我奪。希望不會如此！”

Ian Giles, the co-chair of the Translators Association whose translations from Scandinavian languages into English include the forthcoming The Cuckoo by Camilla L?ckberg, 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.

英國翻譯協會共同會長伊恩·吉爾斯將斯堪的納維亞語系的作品翻譯成英文，包括即將出版的卡米拉·拉克伯格的《布谷鳥》。他表示自2023年初以來他從翻譯商務資料當中獲得的收入大幅減少。對于文學譯者來說，失去非文學收入來源將意味著“進入這一行業的門檻提高了，只有那些不差錢的人才能翻譯和出版文學作品。”他還指出，削減成本不只局限于非文學翻譯工作。他之前合作過的一名專營電子書和有聲讀物的出版商已經轉而采用一種名為“后期編輯”的流程，先讓人工智能翻譯文本，再讓人類編輯進行檢查和微調。

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”.

通過后期編輯來優化翻譯的Nuanxed公司表示，盡管譯者“對于在翻譯中保持高質量的文學水準必不可少”，他們的“方法也需要隨著技術的進步而進化”。該公司的首席執行官羅伯特·卡斯滕·卡爾伯格表示，“將人工智能整合到譯者的工具箱中”將能在“不犧牲創造力或質量”的前提下提高生產力。

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，有人擔心后期編輯會給譯者帶來“比過去多得多的工作量”，因為譯者需要仔細比對文本來找出理解錯誤的地方以及“文筆拙劣或不符合語言習慣”的表達方式。她說：“做過這種后期編輯的同事說，這需要比以前更加高度集中的注意力，因為人工智能生成的文本讀起來往往都貌似合理。”

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：“和所有自由職業者一樣，譯者可能會經歷一段困難時期。他們不一定都清楚收入為何減少，但人工智能是目前最顯而易見的原因。”

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”.

接受該調查訪問的787名英國作家協會會員包括小說和非小說作家、編劇、詩人、記者、插畫師和譯者，其中94%的人報告稱自己的作品被用來開發生成式人工智能工具時沒有署名或補償。鑒于這一調查結果，英國作家協會表示，“迫切需要”政府對人工智能工具進行監管，確保它們的開發和使用“合乎道德與法規”。

"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.”

吉爾斯說：“我確信創造性和文學翻譯行為會以某種形式繼續存在。很多人都擁有根植心底的翻譯欲望，我也相信會有一群人喜歡看人類翻譯的內容。”

英文來源：衛報

翻譯&編輯：丹妮

審校：董靜、齊磊