Translators have raised concerns over Simon & Schuster-owned publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning’s (VBK) “disastrous decision” to use artificial intelligence (AI) to translate some titles into English. 

The Bookseller revealed last week that the Utrecht-headquartered publisher is “working on a limited experiment with some Dutch authors for their books to be translated into English language using AI”. It was later reported in the Guardian that the “project contains less than 10 titles—all commercial fiction”, and does not include any literary books or titles to which English rights would likely be sold at any point. The story was also followed up on Radio 4’s “Today” programme.

The publisher, which was acquired by Simon & Schuster (S&S) earlier this year, explained that this would include “one editing phase, and [that] authors have been asked to give permission for this”. 

Although the Dutch publisher is owned by S&S, The Bookseller understands that the two publishers’ editorial decisions remain separate.

Industry figures have voiced their concerns about the potential “reputational damage” of this move, and the inefficiency that AI could introduce into the translation process. 

Louise Rogers Lalaurie, who has translated 15 novels from French and is the author of Matisse: The Books (Thames & Hudson/University of Chicago Press), explained that the “end result” of an AI-generated translation can cost “more than a good human translation first time round” due to the time-consuming “post-editing” process.

Source: The Bookseller

Full article: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/translators-voice-concern-over-ss-owned-publishers-disastrous-decision-to-translate-books-using-ai