热点追踪 | 是福还是祸？人工智能将如何革新语言行业

Original 王曦国际翻译动态

2024-09-09

是福还是祸？

人工智能将如何革新语言行业？

Fear or Fortune?

How AI is Changing

the Language Industry Forever？

（图片来自multilingual官网）

With the world changing rapidly in the face of technological revolution, language workers are understandably trepidatious. But is it warranted? While any change — particularly rapid, big change — is scary, there may be more cause for optimism than one might think.

在技术革命的浪潮下，世界日新月异，语言工作者自然也忧虑不安。但这种忧虑是否合理呢？虽然任何变化都令人生畏，尤其是翻天覆地的变化，但现实情况远比人们想像得要更为乐观。

Certainly, that’s the prevailing attitude at Crowdin. They envision a future where emerging technologies like AI make language work easier and better rather than replacing workers or flooding the field with low-quality content. Remember the movie Her starring Joaquin Phoenix? It’s entirely possible that’s not far from the future that awaits us: an AI assistant who boosts our careers and opens opportunities, all with a personal, startlingly human-like touch.

当然，这是Crowdin团队的普遍观点。在他们构想的未来里，人工智能等新兴技术将使处理语言工作更加轻松高效，而非取代人工或让低质内容泛滥。还记得杰昆·菲尼克斯主演的电影《她》吗？在不远的未来，这完全有可能实现:一个人工智能助手，具有个性且与人类相差无二的特质，它能帮助我们发展事业、拓展机遇。

In the language space, Crowdin envisions something similar for language work. They believe the language service provider of the future will have not just one but several AI assistants, one of which will likely be dedicated to translation tasks. These AI assistants will be bespoke solutions for each company, trained to capture its unique voice and serve clients according to longstanding preferences.

在语言领域，Crowdin为语言工作构思了类似的未来愿景。他们认为，未来的语言服务提供商将不仅拥有一个助手，而是多个人工智能助手，其中一个很可能专门负责翻译任务。这些人工智能助手将为每位客人量身定制解决方案，它们经过训练以捕捉其独特声音，并根据其长期偏好，为客户提供服务。

Crowdin Product Marketing Manager Diana Voroniak said:

Crowdin的产品营销经理Diana Voroniak表示：

“In the world of localization, AI is a hot topic — some wonder if it really works. At Crowdin, we’re sure it can make a big difference, but it’s like driving a car. If you sit there and it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not the car’s fault; it’s about your driving skills. Same with AI — you need to learn how to use it.”

“在本地化领域，人工智能是个热点话题，但一些人怀疑它是否真正有效。“在Crowdin，我们坚信它能够产生巨大影响，但这就如同开车一样。如果你坐在驾驶位，而车纹丝不动，那并非是汽车的问题；关键在于你的驾驶技能。同样，人工智能也如此——你需要学会如何运用它。”

Fortunately, Crowdin’s AI Translator makes learning easier than ever through the steady process of fine-tuning. The AI assistant can turn your preferred stock large language model (LLM) into something startlingly close to a bespoke solution through exposure to your existing translation memories (TM) and glossaries. And thanks to the system’s flexibility, you can do it at your own pace. Simply initiate the fine-tuning process anytime your TM or glossary gets a significant update. In the not-too-distant future, this process will likely occur in real-time.

幸运的是，Crowdin 的人工智能翻译器在不断地进行微调，现在比以往任何时候都更容易学习掌握。人工智能助手可以通过使用你现有的翻译记忆库（TM）和词汇表，将你首选的大型语言模型（LLM）转化为令人惊讶的定制解决方案。得益于系统的灵活性，你可以按照自己的步调进行操作。只要你的翻译记忆库或词汇表有重大更新，就可随时启动微调流程。在不久的将来，这个流程很可能会实时进行。

语境

It’s yet another exciting addition to Crowdin’s proven translation solution. And that solution is based on one vital ingredient: context.

这是Crowdin经证实的翻译解决方案中又一令人兴奋的新增内容功能。而该解决方案基于一个至关重要的因素：语境。

It’s no secret that context is vital in producing quality translations. Machines can understand language perfectly, but because words have multiple meanings and permutations with rules and exceptions shifting from language to language, it’s all too easy to produce a bad translation with insufficient information. Humans, on the other hand, have the intuition to solve that problem, so why not lean into our unique talents?

众所周知，语境对生成高质量翻译至关重要。机器可以完美地理解语言，但由于词汇具有多重含义、多种排列方式，在不同语言之间转换会有规则可循，也有例外情况，如果信息不足，很容易产生劣质翻译。然而，人类可以通过直觉来解决这一问题，那么为什么不发挥我们独特的才能呢？

Crowdin’s system allows for unparalleled specificity in establishing required context for better quality right from the jump. The secret? A layered approach that feeds the machine system context at the project, file, key/string, and translator session levels.

Crowdin系统具有无与伦比的特性，可以从一开始就建立更好的质量所需的语境。秘诀在哪呢？秘诀在于，采用了分层方法，在项目、文件、密钥/字符串以及译者会话等多个层面为机器系统提供语境。

It all begins with the project-level context, or prompt, which should typically include consumer, product, company, and business domain information. Localization managers modify it with project-specific details, and Crowdin then fills in necessary context like translation memory matches, glossary terms, and approved translations before prompt execution.

首先是项目级别的语境，或称为提示，通常包含消费者、产品、公司和业务领域等信息。本地化经理会根据项目的具体信息进行修改，然后Crowdin在提示执行之前，会补全必要的语境，如翻译记忆匹配、词汇表术语和已检验的翻译。

Next, the file context brings greater specificity and flexibility to individual files in your Crowdin project. Think articles and Word documents that require translation — Crowdin helps the machine understand the nature of both the file and the required translation.

其次，文件语境为Crowdin项目中的单个文件提供了更为具体和灵活的信息。考虑需要翻译的文章和Word文档 —Crowdin会帮助机器理解文件以及所需翻译内容的类型。

But what about the translation of more visual elements? Software UI elements — which typically use short texts that would challenge man and machine alike without context — are essential translations, but how can the system comprehend what’s required? Enter the key/string level context, which establishes a roadmap for that exact task. It’s also great for text- and graphic-heavy projects like website translation.

那么，对于更具视觉元素的翻译呢？比如软件的用户界面元素（Software UI elements），通常使用简短文本，如果缺乏语境，这对人和机器都是一种挑战。然而，这些翻译却至关重要。那么系统又如何理解所需内容呢？这就是密钥/字符串级别语境的作用所在，它为确切的任务建立了一条路线图。这种方式非常适合如网站翻译等有大量文本和图形元素的项目。

Finally, the session level gives linguists, rather than project managers, a portal to their preferred LLM for assistance on demand, and once again, the more context provided, the better.

最后，会话级别的语境，为语言学者们而非项目经理，提供一种入口，可以直接访问他们首选的大型语言模型（LLM），以获取所需帮助。同样，提供的语境越丰富，效果就越好。

The modern world brings complicated challenges for language and localization work, particularly at the speed, quality, and price point clients expect. And the wide range of translation projects, from websites to software to articles and documentation to marketing copy, complicates the situation yet further. Machines speed that process along, but they still need a helping hand. And Crowdin is that helping hand, an all-in-one system that provides the method to routine translation madness.

当代世界给语言和本地化工作带来了纷繁复杂的挑战，尤其是在客户期望的速度、质量和价格方面。而翻译项目的庞大范围，包括从网站到软件、文章、文档、乃至营销文案，也让情况更加复杂。虽然机器可以加快翻译过程，但它们仍需要一个帮手。而Crowdin作为一个能为日常大量的翻译提供一体化解决方案的系统，就是这样的帮手。

原文网址：https://multilingual.com/fear-or-fortune-how-ai-is-changing-the-language-industry-forever/ ）