| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | How is the proliferation of translation platforms affecting your business? Thread poster: Catherine Earle
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Catherine Earle
United States
Local time: 19:37
Member (2012)
Spanish to English
+ ...
In the last few years, there have been at least two dominant trends in translation software. One is the proliferation of CAT tools that compete with Trados, and more and more, with each other. The other is the increasing presence of AI-related knowledge acquisition systems in agency translation platforms.
These trends force an increased involvement in learning new technologies. Has this affected your productivity in a positive or negative way? Do you feel that you now spend more time learn... See more In the last few years, there have been at least two dominant trends in translation software. One is the proliferation of CAT tools that compete with Trados, and more and more, with each other. The other is the increasing presence of AI-related knowledge acquisition systems in agency translation platforms.
These trends force an increased involvement in learning new technologies. Has this affected your productivity in a positive or negative way? Do you feel that you now spend more time learning new systems than translating? Do you believe you are being evaluated more on your ability to unravel new systems/platforms than on your ability to translate? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | What do you mean? | Sep 2, 2021 |
On your first count, CAT tools other than Trados have existed for quite a while. For example, Wordfast, Star Transit, Deja Vu or Metatexis are over 20 years old. I don't think there has been any radical change on that market lately. Are you referring to anything in particular?
On the second one, what do you mean by AI-related knowledge acquisition systems? I can't quite remember seeing anything that would fit that term.
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This is a trend that has been around for a while. I deeply dislike CAT tools and translation platforms and so far I have managed to avoid them. I used Trados when I worked in-house and I particularly hated all the time wasted aligning and re-aligning documents. So, when I retired from my in-house position and started freelancing I didn’t buy a CAT tool. To date I have survived without one and I have managed to build a strong client base. My approach to translation is that of a “handicraft”... See more This is a trend that has been around for a while. I deeply dislike CAT tools and translation platforms and so far I have managed to avoid them. I used Trados when I worked in-house and I particularly hated all the time wasted aligning and re-aligning documents. So, when I retired from my in-house position and started freelancing I didn’t buy a CAT tool. To date I have survived without one and I have managed to build a strong client base. My approach to translation is that of a “handicraft” rather than an “industrial process”. I’m more concerned with quality and flow than with quantity, productivity and rapidity. Anyway, most of the texts I translate are creative and not repetitive, with some exceptions, but nothing that the Word search function can’t solve. I have been working for over 10 years with a few agencies that require CAT tools but we have come to an agreement that works for me and for them. There are still a few dinosaurs like me out there… ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 20:37
German to English
| I use only two CAT tools (only one really) | Sep 2, 2021 |
For years I used only DVX and Trados, foregoing jobs requiring Transit or other tools and never regretted my decision. When DVX became moribund, I switched to MemoQ. I tried Across once and had system problems as a result, so I continued to use MemoQ and Trados, although I haven't had many reasons to use the latter the past few years. Since I live in an area with sub-third-world internet service, cloud-based tools are out of the question.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:37
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| What proliferation? | Sep 2, 2021 |
I hadn't noticed that there has been a "proliferation of translation platforms".
| | | | | Learning new systems | Sep 2, 2021 |
Learning new systems is an obvious part of the professional development of any professional. For a translator it should be as normal as learning new words. Of course, some systems are poor or cumbersome, or not very well adapted to the needs of translators, or even designed to hamper or control translators or steal their time, but good platforms can also save time and remove bureaucracy and management effort, for example regarding reporting and billing.
In most cases, new systems ar... See more Learning new systems is an obvious part of the professional development of any professional. For a translator it should be as normal as learning new words. Of course, some systems are poor or cumbersome, or not very well adapted to the needs of translators, or even designed to hamper or control translators or steal their time, but good platforms can also save time and remove bureaucracy and management effort, for example regarding reporting and billing.
In most cases, new systems are created to improve productivity, and that can be a good thing. ▲ Collapse
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Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote:
Learning new systems is an obvious part of the professional development of any professional. For a translator it should be as normal as learning new words. Of course, some systems are poor or cumbersome, or not very well adapted to the needs of translators, or even designed to hamper or control translators or steal their time, but good platforms can also save time and remove bureaucracy and management effort, for example regarding reporting and billing.
In most cases, new systems are created to improve productivity, and that can be a good thing.
Could you name one? I haven't come across one that doesn't make life harder...
| | | | Catherine Earle
United States
Local time: 19:37
Member (2012)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | AI-related knowledge acquisition systems | Sep 2, 2021 |
Anton,
Thanks for your comments.
In addition to the well-known CAT tools you list, I have observed that a number of the larger agencies (I would prefer to not name names) now require work to be done in their own, proprietary tools. These CAT tools have private label names. In many cases, they are used to train AI-based machine translation systems.
Of course, we all know that Linguee has been using our inquiries for years to build the AI-system that is behind Deep L. Also, I do ... See more Anton,
Thanks for your comments.
In addition to the well-known CAT tools you list, I have observed that a number of the larger agencies (I would prefer to not name names) now require work to be done in their own, proprietary tools. These CAT tools have private label names. In many cases, they are used to train AI-based machine translation systems.
Of course, we all know that Linguee has been using our inquiries for years to build the AI-system that is behind Deep L. Also, I do not know of any MTPE assignment in which your 'translation' or editing work will not be used to refine some AI machine translation system.
Kay-Viktor,
While I agree with you that learning new systems is a normal part of professional development, the type of system you describe as being "designed to hamper or control translators" is the type to which I refer. No one implements a complicated, multi-tool inhouse translation platform simply for the sake of "controlling" translators. The payoff from the huge investment in these systems is the acquisition, bit by bit, of the translator's knowledge. ▲ Collapse
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| Acquisition of the translator's knowledge | Sep 2, 2021 |
Catherine Earle wrote:
While I agree with you that learning new systems is a normal part of professional development, the type of system you describe as being "designed to hamper or control translators" is the type to which I refer. No one implements a complicated, multi-tool inhouse translation platform simply for the sake of "controlling" translators. The payoff from the huge investment in these systems is the acquisition, bit by bit, of the translator's knowledge.
Even if you don't use any CAT tool, they can easily acquire your (and our) knowledge, bit by bit, by using alignment tools, such as ABBYY Aligner and Terminotix AlignFactory.
[Edited at 2021-09-02 19:35 GMT]
| | | | Catherine Earle
United States
Local time: 19:37
Member (2012)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | AI-information acquisition | Sep 2, 2021 |
That is true, Vladimir, but the new breed of multi-tool proprietary platforms are designed to make it easier for the information to be fed to the AI system. These tools make it much more complicated for the translator to finish a project. What is going on is some of the more tedious labor of software development is being outsourced and (unwittingly or unwillingly) accepted by translators.
| | | | | Knowledge acquisition | Sep 2, 2021 |
Ice Scream, I work for several agencies who report the word count I have translated for them automatically, and pay automatically, too. I appreciate that very much and it saves me time for invoicing. Like Catherine, I prefer not to name agencies here.
Catherine, the idea that knowledge is something you can keep for yourself is an idea of the past. Knowledge is spreading all the time. In fact, I could not even do the job without tapping the knowledge of others every second, by resear... See more Ice Scream, I work for several agencies who report the word count I have translated for them automatically, and pay automatically, too. I appreciate that very much and it saves me time for invoicing. Like Catherine, I prefer not to name agencies here.
Catherine, the idea that knowledge is something you can keep for yourself is an idea of the past. Knowledge is spreading all the time. In fact, I could not even do the job without tapping the knowledge of others every second, by researching on the Internet, for example. In the same way, I have no qualms about spreading my own knowledge for any "AI" to utilise.
The idea that you could acquire knowledge once in your life and then make a living by dispensing it in small quantities does not work. Not in this world.
As said elsewhere, "AI" is actually a misnomer, "machine learning" is a better term. Machines can learn, but they are not intelligent. Intelligence is still a human prerogative, and that is what we need to apply. Intelligence means making the right decisions, not repeating learned patterns, however complex. You won't stop machine learning by trying to withhold your knowledge from machines, the machines have enough data to collect elsewhere anytime. ▲ Collapse
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I think Catherine is taking issue not with translation software per se but with a growing number of agencies (actually industrial-scale translation processing entities) marked by their operational focus on translation management systems, proprietary or otherwise. Typically the translator will have to log into a cloud-based interface and perform the translation online. I am sure most of us are familiar with this setup, which is becoming increasingly widespread as mid-sized agencies now follow sui... See more I think Catherine is taking issue not with translation software per se but with a growing number of agencies (actually industrial-scale translation processing entities) marked by their operational focus on translation management systems, proprietary or otherwise. Typically the translator will have to log into a cloud-based interface and perform the translation online. I am sure most of us are familiar with this setup, which is becoming increasingly widespread as mid-sized agencies now follow suit to keep pace with volume leaders. The assumption appears correct that translations generated in this way are directly fed into MT algorithms. One of the objectives appears to be to raise the percentage of MT output, with all the economic advantages this affords large-scale operators.
I have found the experience too cumbersome for me to jump on this new trend. Periodic password renewals and NDA submissions, system handling procedures that differ between agencies, generally low rates, and a growing number of MTPE propositions add to my suspicion that I am to be turned from a professional translator into MTPE staff. I think the downfall of our profession started not with the Internet but with the first of us who signed up for a Trados job and accepted the notion that some words are worth less than others, thus opening the floodgates to the escalating abuse we keep complaining about. I am still waiting to see the lawyer or dentist who is willing to work for less only because it’s a job they have done before. ▲ Collapse
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| Progress and the translation industry | Sep 3, 2021 |
Andreas Baranowski wrote:
I think the downfall of our profession started not with the Internet but with the first of us who signed up for a Trados job and accepted the notion that some words are worth less than others, thus opening the floodgates to the escalating abuse we keep complaining about.
It seems I am one of those to blame for the downfall of our profession, as I signed up for my first Trados job back in 2002.
However, I don't complain about the escalating abuse, just because I wouldn't tolerate any abuse from my clients.
I still enjoy healthy rates for my services. Also, I am an early adopter of new technologies that help me achieve much higher productivity while improving quality and ensuring consistency within and between projects. Good rates and fast turnaround ensure a healthy bottom line.
Andreas, what we are observing now in our profession or elsewhere, has a name. Some call it 'progress'.
Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
© George Bernard Shaw
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.
© Charles Kettering
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.
© Harold Wilson
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
© Maya Angelou
I am still waiting to see the lawyer or dentist who is willing to work for less only because it’s a job they have done before.
Well, I would advise our younger colleagues to think about becoming a lawyer/engineer/software developer with an excellent knowledge of a major foreign language.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 03:37
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
I do not use customer-based systems. But without Trados Studio I would be much less productive, and would not get many jobs anyway. Congratulations to those of you who could keep to "paper and pencil" or "Word and fax". Quite a big part of my income is from those 99% matches that my customers pay full price for. Last week I say matches from 2006 coming up from my TM. And they were surprisingly valid.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:37
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Some people believe in technology as an absolute, incontrovertible Good; a lodestar that is leading humankind to the Promised Land.
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