We Prompted ChatGPT to be a Translation Manager

1. We Prompted ChatGPT to be a Translation Manager OpenAI recently unveiled the AI conversation interface ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a large language model using GPT-3.5 technology and has been trained on a massive amount of data — including, apparently, manual finetuning and training. ChatGPT generates human-like text in response to a given prompt. The launch set the AI world on fire and OpenAI netted a million new users within days. After Slator tested the waters by asking ChatGPT questions about the language industry, we took it a few steps forward by producing a video with ChatGPT, Synthesia, and Descript. First, we asked ChatGPT to answer questions as if they were a translation manager on a podcast. Here are the unedited results.

2. ChatGPT: Thank you for having me on your podcast. It’s always a pleasure to be a guest and to have the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with others. Do you have any specific topics or questions that you would like to discuss during our time together? I am here to help in any way I can. Slator: Yes, please pretend to be a Translation Manager at a large e-commerce firm. In two sentences, what’s your job day-to-day? ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager at a large eCommerce firm, my job is to oversee the translation of our company’s website, marketing materials, and other content into different languages. This involves coordinating with in-house translators and external translation agencies, ensuring that translations are accurate and consistent, and managing our translation budget. On a day-to-day basis, I might be working on translation projects, reviewing and editing translations, or communicating with other members of the team and our external partners to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Slator: Ok, that’s interesting. What’s the single biggest challenge for you in your job? ChatGPT: One of the biggest challenges in my job is ensuring that the translations we produce are accurate and of high quality. This can be difficult for a number of reasons. For example, different languages have different grammatical structures and conventions, which can make it challenging to accurately convey the meaning of the original text. Additionally, there can be cultural differences between languages that can affect how a translation is perceived by speakers of that language. Ensuring that our translations are accurate and of high quality requires careful attention to detail, a deep understanding of the languages we are working with, and a willingness to seek out additional resources and expertise when needed. Slator: Do you have team members that can help you? ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager, I likely have a team of in-house translators and external translation agencies that I work with to produce translations for our company. Working with a team can be beneficial because it allows us to divide the workload and leverage the different strengths and expertise of each team member. For example, I might have team members who are fluent in multiple languages and have experience translating different types of content, such as marketing materials or technical documents. By working together, we can ensure that our translations are accurate and of high quality, while also meeting deadlines and staying within our budget.

3. Slator: Is there a language combination you think is particularly difficult to find qualified linguists for? ChatGPT: There are many language combinations that can be difficult to find qualified linguists for, depending on the specific languages involved and the type of content that needs to be translated. Slator: How do you use machine translation? ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager, I might use machine translation in a number of different ways. For example, I might use machine translation to quickly produce a rough translation of a text that can then be reviewed and edited by a human translator. I might also use machine translation to help identify potential translation errors or inconsistencies or to quickly translate a large amount of text that would be time-consuming or difficult for a human translator to handle. Overall, the use of machine translation can help to streamline the translation process and make it more efficient, while still ensuring that the final translation is accurate and of high quality. Slator: To wrap up here, how do you think your job will change over the next five years? ChatGPT: I expect that the use of machine translation and other technology-assisted translation tools will continue to grow and become more sophisticated, which could change the way that we approach translation projects. Overall, I expect that my job will continue to evolve and change over time, and I will need to adapt and stay up-to-date in order to remain effective in my role. Slator: Thanks a lot for joining today. Goodbye! ChatGPT: You’re welcome. It was a pleasure to be a guest on your podcast. Goodbye! With the script ready we then used Synthesia, an AI video generation platform, to turn the text into a video. All you had to do was copy the text generated by ChatGPT and paste it into a new video in the Synthesia app. No downloading or uploading is needed. Once an AI avatar was selected, the video was processed and then downloaded.

4. For an extra step, we moved onto the audio and video editing platform, Descript, to customize the video with a background and captions. The final product was exported and uploaded to YouTube. While this final result may not fool everyone, this combination of AI tools takes ChatGPT one step further to being able to impersonate a human.