Will AI be the end of 'proper' translations?

Kindle Translate could spell the end for human translations

It doesn’t feel like too long ago that I had to look up what ChatGTP itself was. Now, it’s the tool I use to answer the query: ‘What could the impact be of the new Kindle Translate feature’?

Before we hand over to ChatGPT for its analysis, allow good old analogue me to explain what Kindle Translate actually is and how it might end up changing the way you read.

As the name implies, it’s a new, AI powered translation service for digital books on Amazon’s Kindle portable e-readers. It’s still in its early stages: it’s only been launched in beta and for now offers translations between English and Spanish and from German into English. Currently it’s only offered to selected Kindle Direct Publishing authors. KDP is Amazon’s self-publishing platform, where authors upload their manuscripts and cover art, and Kindle produces and distributes their book, giving writers 70% of the royalties. Distribution is global, and now Kindle Translate could automatically create different language versions of a book, potentially opening it to a much bigger audience.

Crucially for those authors, the Kindle Translate service is free.

So that’s what Kindle Translate is, now let’s hand over to ChatGPT for its verdict on what KT’s impact could be. Unsurprisingly, increased global reach for authors is the first point ChatGPT comes up with. “Because less than 5% of Kindle-store titles are multilingual today, this opens up a huge “untapped” global reader base.” Greater and faster availability of books in multiple languages is listed as another positive. Followed by the lowering of costs in global publishing, with a nod to the increased diversity that this financially egalitarian approach might create.

But ‘cost’ is also at the heart of the possible problems this new AI translating feature might create. Unsurprisingly, translators of the human variety are worried about Kindle Translate. Worried might be an understatement. Fear for their livelihoods might be more accurate.

The European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations and the European Writers’ Council represent more than a quarter of a million writers and translators, and they have issued a warning about the arrival of Kindle Translate. Books cannot be translated in a click! is the headline of their press release. They want to protect the work of translators and defend the industry from the ‘logic of mere profit’. They also claim that AI is ultimately not able to create a proper translation:

Many AI-powered translation services claim to provide perfectly accurate

translations but there is no such thing.

A literal translation is the opposite of a

good translation.

CEATL & EWC statement

As someone who is old enough to remember life without mobile phones, I realise that nothing is quite as ageing as flowery cardigans and banging on about the perils of AI. And while I feel for professional translators and the disruption AI will undoubtedly bring to their industry, they are not alone in having their livelihoods threatened. AI will revolutionise many sectors. My own, journalism, is also on the cusp of a seismic change. Refuse to adapt to these changes at your career’s peril.

But I do think AI translations carry a specific risk, and that risk is summed up in the phrase quoted above: “A literal translation is the opposite of a good translation.” The huge worry around allowing AI to take over from professional, human translators is that it will undermine what is actually involved in translation, and risk creating a poorer version of a book, damaging its reputation and sales.

While aiming for the demolition of language barriers, the new technology could ironically end up solidifying them.

Even ChatGPT concedes that “AI translation — even advanced models — can struggle to preserve the nuance, tone, style, cultural idioms, or emotional depth of literary prose. Critics argue that translating literature is more than converting words; it’s re-creating voice, atmosphere, and subtlety.”

Those of us who are multilingual (or indeed those who speak regional dialects, many similar issues arise then too) will know that we never just directly translate words when switching from one language to another. Language is culture. What works in one does not necessarily work in another. Idioms are an obvious example where literal translations will leave you sounding odd. Sense of humour is a less obvious, but not less important, difference. Then there are words that often don’t have an equivalent: It always makes me chuckle that there is no direct Italian translation for ‘accountability’.

I’ve recently published a book in Italian called ‘Fascismo in Famiglia’ - fascism in the family. It’s based on the story of my grandfather, who was a fascist in Mussolini’s regime.

The book currently exists in Italian only and I get asked several times a week when the English translation will come out.

My answer is always ‘never’.

I don’t mean that I don’t want there to be an English-language version. I very much do, difficult though the process will be. What I mean is that I don’t want it to be a translation. My new year’s resolution for 2026 is to rewrite the book. The research will be the same of course, as will my main conclusions. But an Italian and an anglophone audience will have a very different relationship to Fascism. In Italy having a fascist grandfather is hardly out of the norm, and most people are aware of the history of those decades of dictatorship. An anglophone audience will not have a personal and emotive link and often will simply not know much about the history of Italian fascism. I wrote the entire book in Italian with the awareness that my audience’s families would all have been touched by Fascism, whether they were fascist or antifascist. The same does obviously not apply to Britons or Americans.

I use two languages almost interchangeably and know from decades of working and writing as a journalist for both an anglophone and an Italian audience that they are very different. Fascism is also a very particular topic. And of course rewriting a book in another language is not a realistic option for most authors or publishers.

But while this is an extreme case, it does highlight the reality of all translations: It’s never just literal. It’s also enriched by context, sensitivities, cultural norms, sense of humour and values. They vary from place to place. Linguistic barriers are often stronger than national borders. Any human translator will have lived the culture of the languages they’re fluent in, and will bring all that knowledge and nuance to their written work.

Though Kindle Translate is bound to be a disruptor, it will not truly replace human translators until AI is able to absorb all the cultural dimensions that come with speaking a language. That would indeed be a game-changer, but we’re not there yet.