英国作家协会在今年1月份拓展了针对译者的调查，受访人包含787名SOA的成员，从事的工作涵盖了虚构作家、非虚构作家、编剧、诗人、记者、翻译家等。受访的翻译职员中有超越三分之一的人由于生成式AI的进步失去了工作，另有超越14%的人表示他们的翻译收入由于AI的进步降低了。说到将来的预期，超越3/4的受访者觉得新技术将对他们的收入产生负面影响。下面请看有关双语报道。
More than a third of translators have lost work due to generative 人工智能, a survey by the Society of Authors has found. More than four in 10 translators said that their income has decreased because of generative 人工智能, while more than three-quarters believe the emerging technology will negatively affect their future income.
英国作家协会的一项调查发现，生成式AI已经致使超三分之一译者扔掉饭碗。超40%的译者表示，他们的收入因生成式AI的出现而降低了，同时超四分之三的译者觉得这项新兴技术会对他们将来的收入产生负面影响。
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 人工智能 to support their work, and 8% used it because they were asked by their publisher or commissioning organisation.
英国作家协会是英国最大的作家、插画师和译者的工会组织。该协会在1月份拓展的调查发现，37%的译者用生成式AI来辅助我们的工作，8%的译者用这一技术是应出版商或委托机构的需要。
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 人工智能 already, literary translation remains in the hands of humans,” he said. “The work that has presumably been handed over to 人工智能 will be the kind of uncomplicated bread-and-butter stuff which doesn’t require so much nuance,” such as instruction manuals.
托马斯·邦斯特德将西班牙语作品翻译成英文，翻译作品包含奥古斯丁·费尔南德斯·马洛的《众爱之书》。他表示，有必要将文学译者和“商业”译者区别开来。他说：“尽管同意英国作家协会调查的译者有三分之一觉得AI抢走了他们的饭碗，但文学翻译范围仍学会在人类手中。”他指出，“被移交给AI处置的翻译工作是那种不复杂的实实在在的内容，没那样多微妙之处需要翻译。”
"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 人工智能 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·斯莫利认可这一看法，她表示“习语多、晦涩、复杂的内容”仍然需要人类来翻译。斯莫利将瑞典语和挪威语作品翻译成英文，翻译作品包含阿曼达·斯文森的《一家三口》。她说：“但可能翻译犯罪和言情小说的人目前接到的活儿会变少，由于AI将全方位进军复杂内容，大家将来都得在AI尚未触及的那点空间内你争我夺。期望不会这样!”
Ian Giles, the co-chair of the Translators association whose translations from Scandinavian languages into English include the forthcoming The Cuckoo by Camilla Läckberg, 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 cosplayt-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 人工智能 translator has a first go at translating a text before a human editor checks it and makes tweaks.
英国翻译协会一同会长伊恩·吉尔斯将斯堪的纳维亚语系的作品翻译成英文，包含马上出版的卡米拉·拉克伯格的《布谷鸟》。他表示自2023年初以来他从翻译商务资料当中获得的收入大幅降低。对于文学译者来讲，失去非文学收入来源将意味着“进入这一行业的门槛提升了，只有那些不差钱的人才能翻译和出版文学作品。”他还指出，削减本钱不仅局限于非文学翻译工作。他之前合作过的一名专营电子书和有声读物的出版商已经转而使用一种名为“后期编辑”的步骤，先叫人工智能翻译文本，再叫人类编辑进行检查和微调。
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 人工智能 into the translators’ toolbox” will enhance productivity “without sacrificing creativity or quality”.
通过后期编辑来优化翻译的Nuanxed公司表示，尽管译者“对于在翻译中维持优质的文学水准必不可少”，他们的“办法也需要伴随技术的进步而进化”。该企业的首席实行官罗伯特·卡斯滕·卡尔伯格表示，“将AI整理到译者的工具箱中”将能在“不牺牲创造力或水平”的首要条件下提升生产力。
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 人工智能 generated text often reads so plausibly,” she said.
然而，斯莫利表示，有人担忧后期编辑会给译者带来“比过去多得多的工作量”，由于译者需要仔细比对文本来找出理解错误的地方与“文笔拙劣或不符合语言习惯”的表达方法。她说：“做过这种后期编辑的同事说，这需要比以前愈加高度集中的注意力，由于AI生成的文本读起来总是都貌似合理。”
Bunstead said that “translators, like all freelancers, can go through lean periods. They won’t always know for certain the reasons why, but 人工智能 is currently the obvious explanation.”
邦斯特德指出：“和所有自由职业者一样，译者或许会历程一段困难时期。他们不肯定都了解收入为什么降低，但AI是现在最显而易见是什么原因。”
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 人工智能 tools. In light of the survey, the SoA said that there is an “urgent need” for government regulation of 人工智能 tools to ensure they are developed and used “ethically and lawfully”.
同意该调查访问的787名英国作家协会会员包含小说和非小说作家、编剧、诗人、记者、插画师和译者，其中94%的人报告称我们的作品被用来开发生成式AI工具时没署名或补偿。鉴于这一调查结果，英国作家协会表示，“迫切需要”政府对AI工具进行监管，确保它们的开发和用“合乎道德与法规”。
"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.”
吉尔斯说：“我确信创造性和文学翻译行为会以某种形式继续存在。不少人都拥有根植心底的翻译欲望，我也相信会有一群人喜欢看人类翻译的内容。”
重点词语
More than 超越，超出，超出……的 ; 比……更 ; 很，极其 ; 比……更要紧 ; 超出需要，超乎一般
lost work 损失功
due to 因为 ; 因为，由于
generative 能生产的 ; 有生产力的 ; 有生殖力的
because of 由于 ; 由于，因为
three-quarters 四分之三 ; 四分之三的;大半身的;脸的四分之三的;中后卫
emerging technology 新兴技术
future income 将来收入 ; 与将来收入
trade union 工会 ; 工会主义的历史
in January 1月 ; 在1月份 ; 在1月里
英文来源：卫报
