Know thine enemy – Michael Farrell picks up the perennial topic of machine translation post-editing
Abstract
This article by Michael Farrell, published in the ITI Bulletin in September 2023, critically explores the evolving landscape of machine translation post-editing (MTPE), examining its practicality, productivity and psychological impact on professional translators. Beginning with a historical overview of machine translation (MT), Farrell highlights the initial shortcomings of early systems and the long-standing scepticism surrounding fully automatic high-quality translation. The article then delves into the transformative role of neural MT (NMT) and large language models (LLMs), which have improved raw MT output quality, prompting a rise in MTPE adoption. However, despite potential productivity gains, many translators still reject MTPE due to factors such as text type suitability, lack of job satisfaction and the limitations of MT-generated vocabulary. Farrell also discusses issues like post-editese and the challenges of monolingual post-editing. Ultimately, he argues that while MTPE may become more prevalent, it should be approached as a tool rather than a replacement, emphasizing the enduring value of human translators in ensuring nuanced, high-quality translations.
Published in
ITI Bulletin, September-October 2023
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