The concern raised by political authorities and technology companies about the rise of Chat GPT and its potential dangers to society has brought the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into debate. Artificial intelligence has become a technology that is taking on more and more roles in our society. The content translation industry was also revolutionized. Machine translators and voice recognition systems help to carry on conversations in other languages and adapt documents efficiently. However, as AI becomes more advanced, concerns about its challenges also arise.

Revolution in content translation

The creation of machine translation had a powerful impact on this more interconnected world. It awakened the illusion of being able to change people’s lives with a simple but revolutionary idea: communicating without knowledge or intermediaries in languages very different from the ones they know. Soon, challenges also arose that put the use of AI in content translation under debate.

1. Replacing human labor with machines

One of the biggest dangers of AI in content translation is its potential to replace jobs that used to be done by people. Automation has already replaced many jobs in the manufacturing industry and is expected to have a similar impact when it comes to consulting expert translation services. 

Supporters of the use of machine translators and other technologies in the translation field say that AI can be very useful for solving repetitive translations, such as legal or technical documents. In addition, by efficiently moving work forward, it can allow human translators to concentrate on more complex and creative tasks. 

The complication lies in robots and AI algorithms becoming more sophisticated, making them capable of performing tasks that were previously considered exclusively human. This could have serious consequences for the people who dedicate their lives to these jobs. Professional translators would be exposed to technological advances that are cheaper than their services, self-refining and increasingly accurate in their output.

2. Discrimination in translated languages

AI is based on data and patterns that are made by humans. This increases the risk of human bias and discrimination being transferred to the machine.

If an algorithm in a translation tool is trained with data that contains biases towards certain ethnic groups or genders, they are likely to be perpetuated in its decisions. Who decides what language should appear in a machine translator and in what form it should appear?

3. Data privacy risks

Translating content with technological tools introduces privacy policy concerns. AI can collect personal information, which could be maliciously used to generate personalized advertising or to influence political opinions.

Discussions about the challenges of AI in our society have reached such an extreme that they have surpassed the practical issues. The risks are also measured in existential terms and philosophers and scientists spoke out about the threat it poses to humanity as a whole. Some AI experts, such as theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, have warned that if AI becomes sufficiently intelligent it could surpass the human ability to control it and eventually take over the world. A somewhat more complicated problem than delegating content translation.