The literary touch is lost in computer translation

Machines cannot match humans when it comes to translating literary texts, a study has found.

Researchers at Dublin City University interviewed six translators on their methods. All said they preferred to start from scratch rather than use machine translation by an algorithm.

A recent paper from DCU found that it could be useful in the translation of novels between related languages. Translators said that it was frightening to see how accurate it had become.

The researchers for the new study said translators felt machine-translated text limited their creativity and conditioned them to produce a literal translation, not one more stylistically faithful.

The translators provided feedback before and after a translation of Warbreaker, a fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson, chosen because it was deemed challenging. The…