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In the last 18 months, large language models (LLMs) have fueled a raft of startups and been rapidly injected into language technology platforms. But how have professional linguists responded to this pivotal moment in AI?
A survey of more than 750 translators — conducted in April 2024 for the 2024 Slator Language Industry Market Report — found that AI adoption by professional linguists is now widespread. Two-thirds of translators have used AI in their translation work in the past 12 months.
Whether via AI models (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini), translation management systems, or standalone AI platforms, linguists are actively leveraging AI in new and creative ways to enhance quality and efficiency.
Here, we present the top 10 applications of AI by translators, based on results from Slator’s 2024 linguist survey.
Language is one the greatest gifts our world has ever received. Through language we’re able to communicate with each other and also express our uniqueness.
Languages are a way of seeing things. The way we explain different concepts – or whether the concepts exist in our language at all – provides a vital window to our culture. As Microsoft President Brad Smith put it: “When a community loses a language, it loses its connection to the past – and part of its present. It loses a piece of its identity.”
Te reo Māori is part of Aotearoa’s identity. When Kiwis travel, we communicate with others in English, the international language of business. But when we share what makes us unique, what do we talk about? Thanks to the success of the All Blacks, people know us for the haka. We’re also known for being “Kiwi”, for our celebrities such as Taika Waititi and places like Rotorua, Kaikoura and Waiheke. What all of these people, places and things have in common is a language – te reo Māori.
Growing up, I wasn’t able to express myself in the language of my people, something that’s helped shape who I am and what I do as the founder of a translation technology company today. Not only do we have to be open to using te reo Māori, we have to get smarter about harnessing technology to ensure more New Zealanders have an opportunity to engage with it as they go about their day.
The World Economic Forum is predicting that within the next 100 years, around 1,500 languages could disappear forever. The research found that regionally dominant languages taught in class often overshadow indigenous tongues. Unless they’re used regularly and encouraged to become a part of people’s daily lives, these foundations of our culture get lost. Without them, we lose so much more than just words – we lose what makes us uniquely us.
Are language service providers (LSPs) seizing the benefits offered by generative AI and large language models? An April 2024 Slator study has found that the answer is a resounding “yes”.
The survey of AI adoption across 223 companies found that one in three LSPs have implemented large language models into their workflows. Furthermore, close to 20% of companies have now tested use cases or beta versions.
Just 3% of LSPs told Slator that they have no plans to implement LLMs.
Beyond performing the core machine translation task, LLMs — such as Meta’s Llama 3 and OpenAI’s GPT 4 and 4o — have significant potential to augment and enable language AI services. Key applications include quality estimation, dynamic translation adaptation, and multilingual text generation, among others.
Gabriel Fairman, CEO of Bureau Works, speaking at the opening of SlatorCon London on Wednesday 21 May, emphasized that LLMs represent nothing less than “a new way for humans to relate to machines”.
In a May 16, 2024 paper, Jared Coleman, Bhaskar Krishnamachari, and Khalil Iskarous from the University of Southern California, along with Ruben Rosales from California State University introduced a new approach for machine translation (MT) that is “particularly useful” for no-resource languages, which lack publicly available bilingual or monolingual corpora.
This approach, named LLM-RBMT (LLM-Assisted Rule-Based Machine Translation), combines the strengths of large language models (LLMs) and rule-based machine translation (RBMT) techniques.
The researchers highlighted the exceptional capabilities of LLMs in MT but noted their limitations in low-resource or no-resource language scenarios. “There have been many efforts in improving MT for low-resource languages, but no-resource languages have received much less attention,” they said.
Despite the perception of RBMT as a “relic of the past”, the researchers emphasized ongoing research and development in RBMT systems tailored for under-resourced languages.
Japanese manga localization tech company Orange raised JPY 2.2bn (USD 19.5m) in what they called a “pre-Series A” financing, the company announced in a May 6, 2024 press release.
Manga publisher Shogakukan led the financing round. Other participants included the Japanese government’s Japan Industrial Innovation Investment Corporation, Globis Capital Partners, ANRI, SBI Investment, JIC Venture Growth Investments, Miyako Capital, Chiba Dojo Fund, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and GFR Fund.
Orange, founded in 2021, uses computer vision and NLP, including AI translation, to translate manga titles in a fraction of the time required by traditional methods.
The company claims that it can translate, from Japanese to English, up to 500 manga titles per month — a figure Orange pegs at about five times the current industry rate.
The company’s ultimate goal: translate 50,000 manga titles in the next five years. Orange will use some of the funds raised in this round to launch a digital manga store called emaqi in summer 2024. The store will reportedly feature recommendations from manga influencers — as well as AI-generated suggestions.
It will also support AI dubbing and subtitles on LinkedIn, Coursera, Bloomberg, and more.
Microsoft Edge will soon offer real-time video translation on sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, Coursera, and more. As part of this year’s Build event, Microsoft announced that the new AI-powered feature will be able to translate spoken content through both dubbing and subtitles live as you’re watching it.
So far, the feature supports the translation of Spanish into English as well as the translation of English to German, Hindi, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. In addition to offering a neat way to translate videos into a user’s native tongue, Edge’s new AI feature should also make videos more accessible to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Edge will also support real-time translation for videos on news sites such as Reuters, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Microsoft plans on adding more languages and supported websites in the future.
The German startup has been rivalling giants such as Google Translate
DeepL, the Cologne-based unicorn that has been rivalling machine translation giants such as Google Translate, today announced a new investment of $300mn (€277mn), reaching a $2bn valuation.
Born from online dictionary Linguee, the startup was founded in 2017 by Jarek Kutylowski, who’s also serving as the company’s CEO.
DeepL offers free and premium AI translation services, with a special focus on B2B products, where the company sees the biggest demand.
It now covers 32 languages and counts 100,000 business users. A list that includes the likes of Nikkei, Coursera, and Deutsche Bahn.
The investment follows a period of significant growth for DeepL. Within the last 12 months, the startup has opened its first office in the US and added Arabic, Norwegian, and Korean to its language portfolio. It has also launched new products for businesses, such as the DeepL Write Pro AI assistant.
Future Trans Sets the Stage for AI Excellence, Exploring Ai-IoT Integration, Ethical AI for Seamless Global Connectivity
Showcasing The Pinnacle of AI Innovation at the AI World Congress 2024
In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, Future Trans, a leader in translation and localization services, is set to showcase its expertise at the AI World Congress 2024 in London. This prestigious event will gather industry giants, innovators, and thought leaders to discuss cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies and their applications across various sectors.
AI World Congress 2024: A Hub for Technological Advancements
The AI World Congress is renowned for its focus on the integration of AI technologies with the Internet of Things (IoT). This year’s congress promises to highlight advancements in smart cities, healthcare systems, automotive technology, and more. Attendees can expect a robust agenda filled with keynote addresses, interactive panels, and hands-on workshops.
Interprefy, a provider of remote simultaneous interpretation for events, has launched a new product that provides instant, AI-powered live translation for in-person meetings using a mobile phone.
The aim of the software, Interprefy Now, is to remove the need for AV equipment for live translation and make meetings of up to 30 people multilingual.
Once companies subscribe, meeting attendees can jump into multilingual conversations using a smartphone without any pre-meeting booking or technical setup of specialist equipment.
Existing solutions for small meetings are typically tied to specific meeting and conference rooms through the use of specialist AV equipment. Consecutive interpretation software for use on the go is typically only suitable for two-way conversations, and not for multi-person professional meetings.
Oddmund Braaten (pictured), CEO at Interprefy, said: “For large multi-lingual events, we have our flagship mobile app. This is ideal for large, pre-planned events or conferences with a high number of attendees. With Interprefy Now we are providing the capability for instant access to live translation for smaller, more personal meetings, through the mobile app and subscription plans.
The latest competent intelligence report published by WMR with the title “An Increase in Demand and Opportunities for Global Video Game Translation Services Market 2024” provides a sorted image of the Video Game Translation Services industry by analysis of research and information collected from various sources that have the ability to help the decision-makers in the worldwide market to play a significant role in making a gradual impact on the global economy. The report presents and showcases a dynamic vision of the global scenario in terms of market size, market statistics, and competitive situation.
At present, the Video Game Translation Services market is possessing a presence over the globe. The Research report presents a complete judgment of the market which consists of future trends, growth factors, consumption, production volume, CAGR value, attentive opinions, profit margin, price, and industry-validated market data. This report helps individuals and market competitors to predict future profitability and to make critical decisions for business growth.
The obligatory checkbox on OpenAI’s website, which requires visitors to verify that they are human, seems almost tongue-in-cheek following the company’s latest release, GPT-4o. (The “o” stands for “omni.”)
In a May 13, 2024 announcement, OpenAI described the newest version of its large language model as a “step towards much more natural human-computer interaction,” citing a range of new or improved capabilities, such as human-like response time in conversations and the interpretation of emotions through facial expressions.
“With GPT-4o, we trained a single new model end-to-end across text, vision, and audio, meaning that all inputs and outputs are processed by the same neural network,” the press release explained.
TechCrunch reported that ChatGPT-4o is now “more multilingual,” with OpenAI claiming “enhanced performance in around 50 languages.”
Founder Jaroslaw Kutylowski talks about Arabic, the UAE and future clients
DeepL chief executive Jaroslaw ‘Jarek’ Kutylowski wants the company’s translation service to strengthen its presence and usage in the Middle East. Photo: DeepL
DeepL, the AI-fuelled language translation company based in Germany, is keen to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and is making efforts at improving its Arabic translation services while courting potential clients in the region, its chief executive has said.
The company’s AI neural translation technology has set the pace for much of the language-translation sector in recent years, chief executive Jaroslaw “Jarek” Kutylowski, 41, told The National in an interview in Dubai.
The technology translation unicorn’s efforts to increase its presence in the region come amid a global race from various companies like Google, Microsoft and Grammarly, who are vying for a slice of the lucrative language translation sector.
Mr Kutylowski said DeepL offers plenty of VC funding and hundreds of millions of users and is trying to stay ahead of the competition.
Its translation offering for business customers, DeepL Pro, is used by 20,000 companies, according to DeepL.
The capability should be generally available in the following weeks.
There is no doubt that Microsoft Edge has some good translation capabilities: from the live translation of its PDF reader to the more advanced video translation enhancements that effectively allow users to translate audio or subtitles while watching videos in the browser, Microsoft wants to make sure no one feels left behind.
This is most likely why the Redmond-based tech giant is bringing AI-generated voice dub translations to videos, according to the latest post from software enthusiast @Leopeva64.
In other words, you’ll be able to listen to video translations rather than reading them on Microsoft Edge, all due to a new enhancement that uses AI to generate that audio translation.
“After many attempts and multiple crashes I was finally able to make a short recording of Edge’s video translation feature, in the first video you can hear the original audio and in the second you can hear Edge’s AI-powered translation:https://t.co/FIcnSbSZjTpic.twitter.com/ozilW5YMOc— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) May 6, 2024“
According to the enthusiast, Microsoft Edge will have AI generate different voices for dubbing the translation based on who’s speaking. For instance, if a man is speaking in the video, AI will generate a male voice, and if a woman is speaking, then a female voice will be generated.
COLOGNE: Online translation platform DeepL says it launching an AI assistant that, unlike ChatGPT and other rival AI chatbots, is designed to support the writing process with real-time suggestions on word choice, phrasing, style and tone.
The German software company says its new assistant allows users to optimise their texts regardless of their language skills and find the right words for any situation and any reader.
DeepL Write Pro is the company’s first product to be based on its own large AI language model (LLM). LLMs are machine learning models that are trained to understand and generate human language. Well-known LLMs include GPT from OpenAI, Gemini from Google and Llama from the Facebook group Meta.
The new AI writing assistant is primarily aimed at business users and is designed to support teams in companies when writing business content.
DeepL says the assistant, which currently works in English and German, can help companies ensure precise communication from internal content to external customer communications and contracts.
Google has been quiet as Chrome still doesn’t have this functionality. As for Firefox, users will no longer have to use third-party extensions as the Close Duplicate Tabs option is now available in the context menu.
Simply right-click the page that you assume is a duplicate and choose Close Duplicate Tabs from the context menu. This feature is currently available for testing in Firefox 127 Nightly and enabled by default.
While this feature is useful, it only appears if you right-click a duplicated tab, so you’ll need to manually find the tab before closing all of its instances.
German startup DeepL, known for its AI-powered machine translation, is making a foray into the realm of writing where it adjusts the style of the sentences according to user preference with an emphasis on business application.
The startup launched the service, powered by its own large language model (LLM), in Korea on Friday. It is available in English and German with a plan to expand the number of languages supported.
The style of the sentence can be selected from four style options — business, academic, simple and casual — and four tone options — friendly, diplomatic, confident and enthusiastic.
“Words matter, and language can be the competitive edge that moves the needle for global businesses,” said Jarek Kutylowski, the company’s founder and CEO.
“DeepL Write Pro is our first product powered by our own LLMs, and is the culmination of years of research and innovation that has set us apart from other tech giants.”
Anuvadini, the AI translation tool that is breaking boundaries by translating movie dialogues from Vietnamese to diverse Indian languages will also translate ABK Media’s curated, “The Northeast Connect”, digital content into various Indian languages.
ABK Media, under the mentorship of Dr. Triveni Goswami Mathur, an Educator and Media & Communication Expert, has structured content that delves deep into the heart of Northeast India’s richness, a press release said.
The North East Connect digital content aims to promote cultural understanding and inclusivity. By unravelling the region’s socio-cultural complexities and economic potential, this content will serve as a beacon for scholars, entrepreneurs, and policymakers alike.
Overall, it will equip learners with knowledge to contribute positively to Northeast India’s development.
Anuvadini, will also become the first tool to translate the dialogue of a movie into various Indian languages.
International holidays are set to return so we asked experts to test some of the top translation apps
SPRING HAS SPRUNG, and the summer is fast closing in, and – more importantly – international travel is returning in the coming months. This means the opportunity to immerse yourself in different locations, languages and cultures, and we’re here to assist you with that endeavour.
While learning some local lingo before you go, or picking some up along the way broadens the mind, a language translator app can be a great tool for helping you along the way – whether it’s assisting in a jam or lending a hand with learning the language.
Language translation apps are ten a penny these days, with many being free alongside some premium options. In some cases, you may not even have to download a new app, with Google and Apple getting in on the game with their own versions. Microsoft has its free offering, and lesser-knowns like SayHi and iTranslate are also making their case. We’ve tested them all to find the best one to take with you as you satisfy your 2021 wanderlust.
Austin, TX – April 9, 2024 – Boostlingo, a leader in language access technology, announces AI Pro – a new AI solution offering real-time captions, transcriptions, translations, and speech features in multiple languages. AI Pro empowers professionals to communicate on conferencing platforms regardless of language or hearing disabilities.
In addition to the AI Pro launch, Boostlingo unveils a new brand identity and website reflecting the company’s expansion of services beyond interpretation technology. The new branding reflects Boostlingo’s commitment to innovation and increased language access.
“Boostlingo’s rebranding was a strategic decision as we are building upon our innovative technology and adding new products that incorporate AI,” shared Morgan Teller, Director of Marketing. “We’re also expanding our technology from just interpretation to being capable of supporting broader language services.”
Health equity and accessing Spanish kidney transplant information continues being a substantial challenge facing the Hispanic community. This study evaluated ChatGPT’s capabilities in translating 54 English kidney transplant frequently asked questions (FAQs) into Spanish using two versions of the AI model, GPT-3.5 and GPT-4.0.
Introduction
The concept of health equity involves providing every individual with a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health1. Unfortunately, disparities in healthcare access and the distribution of medical information continue to be significant barriers2. For the Hispanic community, particularly those who primarily speak Spanish, these barriers are often compounded by linguistic challenges, limiting their access to essential healthcare information.
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