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>Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. Sorry, I accidentally

>Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. Sorry, I accidentally removed the last part of that sentence. It was supposed to say this: So far, I've thought about translating (I'm bilingual) and technical writing. AI is already quite good at both of those, and Duolingo just replaced most of its translation staff with AI. Thanks for the reply.

tkgally 3y ago
Just to reinforce what you and others said: Translation work has indeed been impacted significantly by AI and will be even more so as LLMs, tooling, and workflows improve further. That said, translation is also like programming in that it seems to be the junior translators who are most impacted. Newbie translators’ job is often just to take any text they are given and render it into another language, with little or no control about the choice of text or its content and with little or no interaction with the client. AI can do that pretty well now, and much more quickly and cheaply than any human. The human translators who are surviving are those who spend less time translating words on a screen than they do learning their clients’ needs, helping their clients navigate the subtleties of interlingual and intercultural communication, and advising their clients on how to adapt their content to meet the needs of their target readership. I don’t know if there are many entry-level jobs available now with such responsibilities, but that’s what I would be looking for, not for what has traditionally been called “translation.” My thoughts on this topic from a year ago can be found on my website, linked from my profile.
runeblaze 3y ago
Btw, totally unsolicited advice, but please take care of yourself. You sound like you have quite some decisions to dwell on, and correct decisions are much harder in moments of hopelessness. If you feel hopeless, we (at least me, and HN in general) are here to help besides other resources.
- nullptr_deref 3y ago
  I'm in similar boat. But I love CS and it seems easy for me. But I butchered myself (meaning no substantial skills on paper) so I am unhireable. People don't even look at my resume. Deactivated LinkedIn because it was causing harm than good. That's it!

tkgally 3y ago

Just to reinforce what you and others said: Translation work has indeed been impacted significantly by AI and will be even more so as LLMs, tooling, and workflows improve further. That said, translation is also like programming in that it seems to be the junior translators who are most impacted. Newbie translators’ job is often just to take any text they are given and render it into another language, with little or no control about the choice of text or its content and with little or no interaction with the client. AI can do that pretty well now, and much more quickly and cheaply than any human. The human translators who are surviving are those who spend less time translating words on a screen than they do learning their clients’ needs, helping their clients navigate the subtleties of interlingual and intercultural communication, and advising their clients on how to adapt their content to meet the needs of their target readership. I don’t know if there are many entry-level jobs available now with such responsibilities, but that’s what I would be looking for, not for what has traditionally been called “translation.” My thoughts on this topic from a year ago can be found on my website, linked from my profile.

runeblaze 3y ago

Btw, totally unsolicited advice, but please take care of yourself. You sound like you have quite some decisions to dwell on, and correct decisions are much harder in moments of hopelessness. If you feel hopeless, we (at least me, and HN in general) are here to help besides other resources.

nullptr_deref 3y ago
I'm in similar boat. But I love CS and it seems easy for me. But I butchered myself (meaning no substantial skills on paper) so I am unhireable. People don't even look at my resume. Deactivated LinkedIn because it was causing harm than good. That's it!