Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data

This article seeks to assess the impact of data-driven methods of machine translation (MT), not just on translators, but more broadly on industry and society. We consider translation as a shared resource that is the result of producers and consumers who share the overall objective of providing susta...

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Main Authors: Joss Moorkens, Dave Lewis
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: ZHAW 2019-07-01
Series:JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
Online Access:https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7878
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author Joss Moorkens
Dave Lewis
author_facet Joss Moorkens
Dave Lewis
author_sort Joss Moorkens
collection DOAJ
description This article seeks to assess the impact of data-driven methods of machine translation (MT), not just on translators, but more broadly on industry and society. We consider translation as a shared resource that is the result of producers and consumers who share the overall objective of providing sustainable access to reliable multilingual information. This view of translation as a shared knowledge resource is based on the reliance of machine learning-based translation techniques on the pooling and leverage of parallel text in the form of existing translations. These techniques build on the well-established practice of leveraging such resources as translation memories. We use the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to assist with analysis of the dynamic situations emerging through the use of MT, and consider why changes, such a shared ownership model, would ultimately benefit all stakeholders. We finally suggest some research questions that might help to assess sustainability for translation as a resource, an industry, and an occupation, such as 'what would happen if we left translation to machines?', 'why do translators not act collectively', and 'could principal and end customer buy-in be heightened by quantifying the threat to sustainability of access to translations?'.
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spelling doaj-art-e67a2e5c8ca3430cb2930e54076afefc2025-08-20T03:23:52ZdeuZHAWJoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation1740-357X2019-07-013210.26034/cm.jostrans.2019.154Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation DataJoss MoorkensDave LewisThis article seeks to assess the impact of data-driven methods of machine translation (MT), not just on translators, but more broadly on industry and society. We consider translation as a shared resource that is the result of producers and consumers who share the overall objective of providing sustainable access to reliable multilingual information. This view of translation as a shared knowledge resource is based on the reliance of machine learning-based translation techniques on the pooling and leverage of parallel text in the form of existing translations. These techniques build on the well-established practice of leveraging such resources as translation memories. We use the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework to assist with analysis of the dynamic situations emerging through the use of MT, and consider why changes, such a shared ownership model, would ultimately benefit all stakeholders. We finally suggest some research questions that might help to assess sustainability for translation as a resource, an industry, and an occupation, such as 'what would happen if we left translation to machines?', 'why do translators not act collectively', and 'could principal and end customer buy-in be heightened by quantifying the threat to sustainability of access to translations?'.https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7878
spellingShingle Joss Moorkens
Dave Lewis
Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
title Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
title_full Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
title_fullStr Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
title_full_unstemmed Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
title_short Research Questions and a Proposal for the Future Governance of Translation Data
title_sort research questions and a proposal for the future governance of translation data
url https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7878
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