Not lost in translation
The implications of machine translation technologies for language professionals and
for broader society
The paper discusses the implications of recent advances in artificial intelligence
for knowledge workers, focusing on possible complementarities and substitution between
machine translation tools and language professionals. The emergence of machine translation
tools could enhance social welfare through enhanced opportunities for inter-language
communication but also create new threats because of persisting low levels of accuracy
and quality in the translation output. The paper uses data on online job vacancies
to map the evolution of the demand for language professionals between 2015 and 2019
in 10 countries and illustrates the set of skills that are considered important by
employers seeking to hire language professionals through job vacancies posted on line.
Available from March 30, 2023
In series:OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papersview more titles