The disruption has taken a lot of translators by surprise. They have, after all, seen automated tools proposed and used to varying degrees by clients for years, even decades, before ChatGPT. Many say GPT's output isn't much better than Google Translate—so many did not see the shift coming.
This suggests that "AI" is as much a cultural shift as it is a technological one—the hype-shrouded AI boom has given managers encouragement and cover to break previous norms and standards, even if it means a loss in quality. As the boom appears to give way to a bust, that may be all the clearer.
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Or simply, it was mediatic enough for managers to ask about this cost. From your recap you did not talk with clients, it is a shame.
"Good enough" translation was always the most frequent need and yes, any professional translator should have been expecting this since DeepL, G translate.
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I want to thank all of the translators, interpreters, and games localizers who shared their stories with me for this project. I know many were hard to share, heartbreaking as they were, and that a lot of you came forward at significant professional risk. Thanks to all of you.
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Thank you for this thread.
"Disruption" means union-busting, and it means pretending the law doesn't apply. As you say, it's a pretext for what bosses always wanted to do anyway.
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In 2019, the macroeconomists Acemoglu & Restrepo came up with the term "so-so automation": tech of middling quality that only marginally improves the "productivity" and thus generates v minimal economic growth. I think it's very helpful for understanding now! www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Automation and New Tasks: How Technology Displaces and Reinstates Labor
(Spring 2019) - We present a framework for understanding the effects of automation and other types of technological changes on labor demand, and use it to interpret changes in US employment over the ...
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An Aussie bank found that out and then had to reinstate workers when it had a surprising result. “its members found work actually spiked after the bot was introduced, despite the bank's claims it would reduce calls”
newsapp.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Commonwealth Bank backtracks on AI job cuts, apologises for 'error' as call volumes rise - ABC News
CBA has apologised to 45 affected employees after finding customer service roles were not redundant despite introducing an AI-powered "voice-bot", but the union says the damage is done.
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tapping the sign bsky.app/profile/chec...
