ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE TRANSLATOR IN POST-EDITING PRACTICE

Abstract

The increasing integration of artificial intelligence into translation technologies has transformed traditional perceptions of the translator’s role. Modern machine translation systems can produce target-language texts with a high degree of fluency, but their output still requires critical human evaluation. In this context, post-editing has emerged as an important area of professional translation practice. This paper examines how artificial intelligence and machine translation are changing the responsibilities and competencies of translators. Particular attention is paid to the shift from the translator as the sole producer of the target text to the translator as an evaluator, editor and quality controller of machine-generated output. The paper argues that technological development does not make human translation competence irrelevant. Instead, it increases the importance of critical reading, contextual interpretation, terminology management and quality assessment. The future translator is therefore likely to require both strong linguistic competence and the ability to work effectively with AI-assisted translation technologies.