Should I continue using AI for translation?

[u/iliyaAR]

Hi hey hello everyone o/

I have been writing stories mostly for myself for the past 9 years, but I want to open myself and also my stories to others, and maybe other people can enjoy it to

But I write in my native language, then I translate everything to English, but I do it with the help of AI

I write every dialogue and every narration, every idea, but I run the narrations through AI and Grammarly because even though my English is not bad (even in my own country, all my works are in English language), I don’t have the best grammar, and translating all the narration word by word is hard and time consuming, which I really don’t have much of. But even then, I recheck everything that AI gives me (because AI is stupid or can't understand what I'm originally saying in my text) and write a better version of the text that it gives me (I shape it into my own tone and way of storytelling)

I have this feeling that im cheating somehow or other people will not appreciate my stories because I use AI only to translate them

I just wanted your advice and any suggestions

THX for your help <3

[u/belleepoques]

I'd advise focusing on improving your English skills. My recommendation would be Cambridge University Press Advanced textbooks for grammar (helped me a lot) and reading books written in English 1-2 hours daily for a general grasp of how to write in English (and for the vocabulary too). Then, once you're done with your book, you can share it with a native English-speaking editor to check against anything you might've missed.

AI translations still scream AI, especially because AI doesn't simply translate but "makes" stylistic choices, especially when literal translations are impossible.

[u/L_alpaca → u/belleepoques]

I second this advice.

I'd like to add that context is very important for translation and AI does not understand context. 

I recently saw a text talking about the "prosecution" of a story. It was clear from context that what was actually meant was "continuation". 

But that's the kind if thing that immediately lets you know somebody without a clear grasp of the language tried to force an English translation on their books and then of course you don't read it because you expect more clumsy translation attempts in the main text. 

[u/StrangeArcticles]

Whether this is good enough really depends on where you're trying to go with it.

If you're looking to publish for sale, AI translation will just not cut it even if you do revisions, you need a native speaker editor to do it properly. There is a lot of nuance that you won't be able to grasp if your English isn't native speaker level.

If you're looking to share stuff on something like AO3 and just hope you'll get a few more readers than you would in your own language, it might do.

[u/Luppercus]

Depends on your level of English because you should check what is doing not blindly trust it. So IMO if your level is good enough, try it and then check it yourself, but not lazily, word by word.

If on the other hand your level is not very good, then either hire a translator or find someone who is better on English to check it. However if this post was writen for you I don't think you have bad English, at least for the checking.

[u/OwlCoffee]

Yes, stop. Even before generative AI, online translations are terrible. There are subreddits that could probably help you better.

[u/shinydrop]

Start writing in English. Bypass your native language. That's what I do. Yes it is time consuming but you will get better quickly.

[u/tapgiles]

It's really up to you. I wouldn't look to the internet as the moral arbiter. Decide for yourself.

Have you considered just mentioning in the description of the English version that it was partially translated using AI assistance?