ChatGPT has burst onto the scene in the field of automated content creation, and many have raised their voices to declare the end of human intelligence. Or, at least, the end of certain activities associated with it, which are admittedly annoying and unavoidable, as may be the case with translation.
I understand that translation can be a troublesome activity. You don’t usually think about it until the end, and then suddenly it rises like a colossal wall. Company X’s magnificent communication plan for Europe, worth tens of thousands of euros, turns into an unmanageable budget of hundreds of thousands because each consumer wants to receive their content in their own language. The human condition often delivers these nasty surprises.
No wonder it has so few friends among those who manage budgets and that, with each new technological advance, its survival as a commercial activity is called into question and people rush to finally see the language barriers come tumbling down like walls of Jericho at the thundering blow of, in this case, artificial intelligence.
Yet perhaps everything is less apocalyptic than how it has been portrayed to us..
In the technological rush of the past century, laymen and scientists have tended to foresee rapid advances in certain fields of knowledge, which in the end have proved to be illusory, and to ignore or fail to foresee others, which have had a major impact. Space exploration or the eradication of bacterial diseases would figure in the first case, and the world wide web or GPS in the second. None of the mid-century forecasts predicted a future with an instant connection to an almost unlimited flow of knowledge for any individual, and instead we were expected to travel to work in a single, nuclear-powered spaceship. As Mark Twain said, the art of prophecy is very difficult, especially with respect to the future.
But what about translation? Let’s take a look at how ChatGPT translates.
Below we will compare several examples of translation done by a neural-based machine translation engine (DeepL) and that done by ChatGPT. Comments are added to each segment.
We have selected two small texts in Spanish, from a user manual (protective equipment) and a legal document (confidentiality clauses), and translated them into English using both tools:
User manual:
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Gafas protectoras |
| DeepL | Protective goggles |
| ChatGPT | Protective Glasses |
| Comments | Both results are correct |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | INFORMACIÓN E INSTRUCCIONES DE USO |
| DeepL | INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE |
| ChatGPT | INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE |
| Comments | Both results are correct |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Gafas de seguridad (Ref.: Gafas de seguridad (Ref.: 80919) de conformidad con los requisitos esenciales del Reglamento (UE) 2016/425 y con los requisitos generales de la norma EN166:2001. |
| DeepL | Safety spectacles (Ref.: 80919) in accordance with the essential requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and the general requirements of EN166:2001. |
| ChatGPT | Safety glasses (Ref.: 80919) in accordance with the essential requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and the general requirements of standard EN166:2001. |
| Comments | The DeepL translation is correct but appears much less frequently. Also, it starts to become incoherent in terms of terminology (it translates the same terms differently from above). |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Estas gafas protectoras ofrecen protección frente a riesgos diversos, como los que se producen en entornos industriales, laboratorios, centros de enseñanza, actividades de bricolaje, etc., que pueden dañar el ojo o perjudicar la visión, salvo los relacionados con radiaciones nucleares, rayos X, rayos láser y radiaciones infrarrojas (IR) de baja temperatura emitidas por fuentes de baja temperatura. |
| DeepL | These goggles provide protection against various hazards, such as those occurring in industrial environments, laboratories, educational establishments, DIY activities, etc., which may damage the eye or impair vision, except those related to nuclear radiation, X-rays, laser beams and low-temperature infrared (IR) radiation emitted by low-temperature sources. |
| ChatGPT | These protective glasses offer protection against various risks, such as those occurring in industrial environments, laboratories, educational centers, DIY activities, etc., which can harm the eye or impair vision, except those related to nuclear radiation, X-rays, laser beams, and low-temperature infrared (IR) radiation emitted by low-temperature sources. |
| Comments | Both translations are similar but give the same error: they copy the Spanish sentence structure, resulting in a confusing, long-winded sentence in English. The sentences need to be made shorter: “These protective glasses offer protection against …. They don’t protect against nuclear radiation, X-rays ….” |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Las gafas protectoras son resistentes a los impactos, pero no protegen frente a todos los riesgos de impacto, como la fragmentación de discos de esmerilado, proyectiles de alta velocidad, artefactos explosivos o metal fundido, a menos que estén diseñadas para ese uso específico y así se indique. |
| DeepL | Protective eyewear is impact resistant, but does not protect against all impact hazards, such as fragmenting grinding discs, high velocity projectiles, explosive devices or molten metal, unless designed for that specific use and so noted. |
| ChatGPT | The protective glasses are impact-resistant but do not protect against all impact risks, such as the fragmentation of grinding discs, high-speed projectiles, explosive devices, or molten metal, unless they are specifically designed for that use and indicated as such. |
| Comments | The same error in both cases: “fragmenting grinding discs / fragmentation of grinding discs” should read “fragments of grinding discs”. The DeepL translation sounds more natural in English than the ChatGPT version. |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Asegúrese siempre de que el producto en su conjunto es adecuado para la aplicación. La selección, formación, uso y mantenimiento adecuados son esenciales para que las gafas protectoras ayuden a proteger al usuario; utilice siempre ambas manos para ponerse y quitarse las gafas. |
| DeepL | Always ensure that the product as a whole is suitable for the application. Proper selection, training, use and maintenance are essential for the goggles to help protect the wearer; always use both hands to put on and remove the goggles. |
| ChatGPT | Always ensure that the product as a whole is suitable for the application. Proper selection, training, use, and maintenance are essential for the protective glasses to help protect the user; always use both hands to put on and remove the glasses. |
| Comments | Similar results. Correct translations. |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Las gafas protectoras deben estar exentas de salientes, bordes afilados u otros defectos que puedan causar molestias o lesiones durante su uso; asegúrese de que las gafas se ajustan correctamente y de forma segura, minimizan las holguras con la cabeza y no se desprenden con facilidad; llévelas durante todos los períodos de exposición al riesgo; sustitúyalas cuando sea necesario. |
| DeepL | Goggles must be free of projections, sharp edges or other defects that could cause discomfort or injury during use; ensure that the goggles fit properly and securely, minimise head clearance and do not come off easily; wear them during all periods of exposure to the hazard; replace them when necessary. |
| ChatGPT | The protective glasses must be free from protrusions, sharp edges, or other defects that may cause discomfort or injuries during use; make sure the glasses fit properly and securely, minimize gaps with the head, and do not easily come off; wear them during all periods of exposure to risk; replace them when necessary. |
| Comments | Similar results. Correct translations. The DeepL translation sounds more natural in English than the ChatGPT version. |
Cláusulas de confidencialidad:
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | En el curso del trabajo, el Proveedor tendrá acceso a una información secreta y confidencial del Cliente que constituye el valor fundamental de los bienes productivos del Cliente. |
| DeepL | In the course of the work, the Supplier shall have access to the Client's secret and confidential information which constitutes the fundamental value of the Client's productive assets. |
| ChatGPT | In the course of work, the Provider will have access to secret and confidential information from the Client, which constitutes the fundamental value of the Client's productive assets. |
| Comments | Supplier / Provider: ChatGPT's choice of terminology seems to be more accurate, as it refers to the service industry. |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | El Proveedor manifiesta conocer que los archivos originales de la documentación a traducir, y las informaciones confidenciales a cuyo conocimiento acceda o que se generen con motivo de su relación con el Cliente, forman parte del patrimonio de este. |
| DeepL | The Supplier declares that he is aware that the original files of the documentation to be translated, and the confidential information to which he has access or which is generated as a result of his relationship with the Client, form part of the Client's assets. |
| ChatGPT | The Provider acknowledges that the original files of the documentation to be translated, and the confidential information to which they have access or that is generated as a result of their relationship with the Client, are part of their own assets. |
| Comments | DeepL’s wording is much more precise and more appropriate for a legal document. "their own assets" (ChatGPT) is an inaccurate formulation that can refer to both the supplier and the client. |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | El Proveedor acepta que por la índole especial de las comunicaciones e informaciones que le proporcionará el Cliente, debe considerar, en principio, secreta toda la información que se genere en el curso de su relación con este. |
| DeepL | The Supplier accepts that due to the special nature of the communications and information to be provided by the Client, it must, in principle, consider all information generated in the course of its relationship with the Client to be secret. |
| ChatGPT | The Provider agrees that, due to the special nature of the communications and information provided by the Client, all information generated during their relationship with the Client must be considered secret in principle. |
| Comments | DeepL's wording could be improved: it should repeat the subject "the Supplier must ... consider all ...". ChatGPT's wording is still imprecise and inappropriate for a document of this type: the Supplier bears responsibility for ensuring that this information remains strictly confidential. "All information ... must be considered secret" does not express the same obligation. |
| Example | Translations and Comments |
|---|---|
| Original | Así pues el Proveedor afirma saber que el mantenimiento de una absoluta reserva respecto de todas y cada una de las informaciones secretas y la no divulgación de dichos archivos constituyen condiciones esenciales en sus relaciones presentes y futuras con el Cliente, dado que el conocimiento por terceros de dichos secretos y/o archivos privaría al Cliente de los bienes o valores que constituyen el objeto de su negocio. |
| DeepL | The Supplier therefore affirms that the maintenance of absolute confidentiality with regard to any and all secret information and the non-disclosure of these files constitute essential conditions in its present and future relations with the Client, given that knowledge by third parties of these secrets and/or files would deprive the Client of the goods or securities that constitute the object of its business. |
| ChatGPT | Therefore, the Provider affirms their knowledge that maintaining absolute confidentiality regarding all and each of the secret information and not disclosing said files constitutes essential conditions in their present and future relationships with the Client, as third-party knowledge of such secrets and/or files would deprive the Client of the goods or values that constitute the object of their business. |
| Comments | Similar results. Correct translations. |
As an overall conclusion we should say that ChatGPT’s translation is more consistent in its use of terminology. That is to say, it focuses more on always translating the same words in the same way, because it focuses less on the segment and more on the context. However, ChatGPT’s translation is closer to the original Spanish sentence structure and the result is therefore less natural in English.
We have detected similar errors in both versions that still require human revision. ChatGPT does not seem to be enough of a qualitative improvement on the good quality already achieved by the neural-based machine translation.
In a recent article in the New York Times entitled “The False Promise of ChatGPT,” Noam Chomsky argues that the great fallacy of AI is due to the fact that the human mind is not, like ChatGPT and its ilk, a lumbering statistical engine for pattern matching, gorging on hundreds of terabytes of data and extrapolating the most likely conversational response or most probable answer to a scientific question. On the contrary, the human mind is a surprisingly efficient and even elegant system that operates with small amounts of information; it seeks not to infer brute correlations among data points but to create explanations.
Perhaps the survival of the human/machine collaborative model depends on their ability to complement each other, on the very different way in which humans and computers approach problems. Our ultimate goal is the same, but we use very different tools to achieve that result. If we were similarly functioning tools, perhaps the differences between us would be a lot smaller, and man would undoubtedly lose out to the machine. For better or worse, we are probably doomed to continue to coexist for quite some time to come. At least until next Christmas. Then we shall see.