Unbabel Declares a New Era of AI Translation: Human Translators to Become Redundant Within 3 Years

The translation market is rapidly changing. Portuguese company Unbabel has announced its new AI translation service, "Widn.AI," declaring the end of human translation. Vasco Pedro, CEO of Unbabel, claims that "within three years, human intervention in translation will be completely unnecessary," heralding a new era of AI translation.

Unbabel's Widn.AI Opens Up the Possibility of Human-Free Translation

Unbabel's announced Widn.AI, based on the large language model (LLM) "Tower," provides a fully automated translation service for 32 languages. While previous Unbabel products used a hybrid approach combining AI and human editors, Widn.AI provides high-quality translations without human intervention.

CEO Pedro stated, "Ten years ago, AI technology had not reached its current level, making hybrid solutions with human collaboration essential." He added that, "Currently, AI translation has reached human levels in almost all areas." He emphasized that, "While human superiority may still exist in very complex translation tasks, the difference is minimal."

Technological Competition Reshapes the Translation Market

Along with Unbabel's announcement, competition in the translation market is intensifying. On the same day, DeepL, a strong competitor in the AI translation field, released its new real-time voice translation service, "DeepL Voice."

DeepL Voice is a service that listens to spoken content in major languages such as English, Korean, and Japanese in real time and provides subtitles translated into 33 languages. This technology has the potential to revolutionize global communication by breaking down language barriers in video conferencing and real-time conversations.

Changes in the Translation Industry Brought About by AI

The advancement of AI translation technology is bringing both positive impacts and challenges to the translation industry. While CEO Pedro mentioned the possibility of decreased per-word revenue due to the introduction of AI technology, he also predicted an explosive increase in the amount of translated content. Unbabel expects to maintain its sales growth based on this and is currently discussing securing investments of \$50 million (approximately 70 billion won).

However, the introduction of AI is significantly impacting some professions. According to a report released by Upwork, a global freelance platform, the translation profession has decreased by 19% due to AI technology, and writing and customer service professions have also shown a decline.

Will Human Translators Disappear?

While CEO Pedro emphasized that human intervention in translation will be unnecessary within three years, he added that not all tasks will be replaced by AI. He stated that, "Humans are still needed to review the translation results and ensure accurate delivery."

This suggests that translators need to shift their roles from simply translating text to reviewing AI-generated translations and incorporating contextual and cultural elements.

The translation market is rapidly changing due to advancements in AI technology. Companies like Unbabel and DeepL are leading the market with innovative technologies, reshaping the role of human translation. However, it is unlikely that AI translation will replace all tasks, and human translators will be required to develop new forms of expertise.