In the early 2000s the then Labour government decreed that a language would no longer be compulsory at GCSE. This has always struck me as a huge turning point. I remember being really annoyed that I had to take French and wishing I could drop it.
That leaves the middle-aged linguists like me. We spent years learning another language, adopting another culture, then years more honing the craft of translation.
Those skills are eroded by automation and greed. As the cost of living crisis intensifies and clients take longer and longer to pay our invoices.
We all know that, given time, the rest of the world will discover what we already know: that machine translation is snake oil.
But we also know that by the time they do, we will be long gone.
The majority of translators I interact with on LinkedIn are actively making plans to leave the profession. I think human translation will be extinct within a couple of years. What a waste of human talent and what a tragedy for world affairs.
