"AI Translation Requires Social Consensus for Co-evolution with Humans"

Gwak Hyo-hwan, President of the Korea Cultural Translation Institute
Symposium at the Press Center on the 26th

"I thought the inevitable had come, but (upon further reflection) I believe it is still far off. We have prepared a public discourse forum to properly prepare."

On the 15th, Kwak Hyo-hwan, President of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, said this at a press conference held at a restaurant near Gwanghwamun. Regarding the fact that a foreigner using an artificial intelligence (AI) translator won the ‘2022 Korean Literature Translation Award’ in the webtoon category, he explained, "When I uploaded the entire text to ChatGPT at that time, there was no identical content except for ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ The review committee agreed with the winner’s claim that AI was used like a dictionary." This means that the AI translator was only used as a dictionary, and there was no problem with the creativity of the translation. However, he added, "This incident made me realize that machine translation has deeply entered everyday life. A sober analysis of what is possible with current technology seems necessary."

From the left in the photo ▲ Park So-yeon, Head of Translation Education Division, Literature Translation Institute of Korea ▲ Han Seung-hee, Special Professor, Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Planning Committee Member) ▲ Kwak Hyo-hwan, Director, Literature Translation Institute of Korea ▲ Jung Ga-ri, Professor, Department of Korean Language and Literature, Yonsei University (Chair of Planning Committee) ▲ Kim Sun-hee, Professor, Department of French Education, Seoul National University (Planning Committee Member) ▲ Kwak Hyun-joo, Head of Translation, Publishing, and Exchange Division, Literature Translation Institute of Korea

In that context, a symposium titled ‘Current Status of AI Translation and the Future of Literary Translation’ will be held on the 26th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. President Kwak said, "We should prepare for the future with accurate diagnosis and understanding, rather than being swept away by excessive expectations and concerns about AI translation," and added, "We have arranged presentations by experts on utilization and acceptance possibilities, as well as legal and ethical issues."

The symposium will cover four topics: ▲History and current status of AI translation ▲Utilization and acceptance possibilities of AI translation ▲Legal and ethical issues related to AI translation ▲AI and translation education.

Shin Jung-hwi, Director of Papago, Naver’s AI translator, who played a pivotal role in planning Papago, will focus on the history and current status of machine translation, its development direction, and the mechanical structure of ChatGPT as a translation tool.

Professor Ma Seung-hye of the Department of English Language and Literature, Dongguk University, will closely compare and analyze how AI translators translate artistic language such as poetry and novels, and their level of completeness. Professor Nam Hyung-doo of Yonsei University Law School will examine copyright issues related to AI translation and suggest directions for improvement. Professor Lee Chang-soo of the Department of Korean-English Translation and Interpretation, Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will analyze the patterns of machine translation utilization and present key points to consider for applying AI in translation education.

Professor Jung Gwa-ri of the Department of Korean Language and Literature, Yonsei University, who serves as the chair of the symposium’s planning committee, stated, "If AI is used well, human work will become much easier. I believe we will be able to perform much more advanced tasks. If AI handles such common-sense level translation in translation, it will become much smoother. A social-level consensus for ‘co-evolution’ is necessary."

The symposium will also include a comparison of translations of the French poet Paul Val?ry’s ‘Cimeti?re marin’ (The Graveyard by the Sea) by three different AI translators. Professor Jung said, "We translated a unique verse in the world into Korean. We will discuss the translated creative expressions together."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.