"Translation" for .02 a word from translators working on their phones for UP TO $10 an hour
Thread poster: Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:08
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Mar 25, 2014

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/unbabel-launches-a-human-edited-machine-translation-service-to-help-businesses-go-global-and-localize-customer-support/

Excerpt:
""... XXXX’s secret sauce leverages artificial intelligence software and its stable of over 3,100 edito
... See more
http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/unbabel-launches-a-human-edited-machine-translation-service-to-help-businesses-go-global-and-localize-customer-support/

Excerpt:
""... XXXX’s secret sauce leverages artificial intelligence software and its stable of over 3,100 editors (or translators) to translate a website’s content from one language into its customer’s language of choice. First, its machine learning technology translates the text from source into the target language, at which point it uses its Mechanical Turk-style distribution system to assign editing tasks to the right translators, who then check the translation for errors and for stylistic inconsistencies.
XXXX editors work remotely, via their laptops or mobile phones, on translations, which co-founder XXXXX says provides the key to faster translations. This, combined with the efficiency of its task distribution and administration algorithms, provides a level of efficiency that allows editors to earn up to $10/hour...


Except of course that these "editors" will not even look at the source text, but just scan the MT output for errors and will not catch anything that is grammatically correct or that makes sense, but is completely different from what the source document says. Not to mention the disaster of chopping the document into pieces or the complete lack of confidentiality if they are using a public MT system.



[Edited at 2014-03-25 21:30 GMT]
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Jean Lachaud
Jean Lachaud  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:08
English to French
+ ...
there we go again Mar 25, 2014

Lemme see if London bookies have odds on when this startup will bite the dust.

 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:08
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+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Start-ups Mar 25, 2014

Someone should start a "graveyard" site listing all these translation start-ups that have died.


JL01 wrote:

Lemme see if London bookies have odds on when this startup will bite the dust.


[Edited at 2014-03-25 21:41 GMT]


 
DLyons
DLyons  Identity Verified
Ireland
Local time: 05:08
Spanish to English
+ ...
Average daily earnings = $0.20. Mar 25, 2014

Jeff Whittaker wrote:


Excerpt:
""... XXXX’s secret sauce leverages artificial intelligence software and its stable of over 3,100 editors (or translators)


"Stable" seems the right word in this context. On average, the entities (I wouldn't call them editors or translators) apparently average 10 words per day - thus earning $0.20.

"secret sauce" as per the ultra-reliable Urban Dictionary seems about right too http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=secret%20sauce

And "secret sauce leveraging a stable" is truly an image to conjure with.

[Edited at 2014-03-25 22:12 GMT]


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 06:08
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Time to say good-bye Mar 26, 2014

This start-up will probably follow the old Beatles song: Hello - good-by.

Just another case of... hey, I will run a start-up translation agency. In order for me to give you work, I need you to pay me first. I also need your word that you are willing to cover all business expenses, especially your own. In return for your kindness (or stupidity?), I guarantee that accuracy of the final document is not at all required.... See more
This start-up will probably follow the old Beatles song: Hello - good-by.

Just another case of... hey, I will run a start-up translation agency. In order for me to give you work, I need you to pay me first. I also need your word that you are willing to cover all business expenses, especially your own. In return for your kindness (or stupidity?), I guarantee that accuracy of the final document is not at all required.

[Edited at 2014-03-26 13:35 GMT]
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Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
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Local time: 01:08
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+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
The comment I made to that article... Mar 26, 2014

...was removed. Interesting. Guess I struck too close to home. Or as that start-up might say "I suppose I knocked too near the house".

[Edited at 2014-03-26 13:11 GMT]


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
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Local time: 01:08
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TOPIC STARTER
Blog Post by Steve Vitek about the site Mar 27, 2014

http://patenttranslator.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/crowdsourced-editing-of-machine-translation-a-greedy-concept-whose-time-has-come



[Edited at 2014-03-27 20:43 GMT]


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:08
Member
English to French
Still breathing Jun 16, 2015

Jeff Whittaker wrote:
Someone should start a "graveyard" site listing all these translation start-ups that have died.

And presently looking for PEMT editors from EN to FIGS.
The ad is worth a read.

Philippe


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:08
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Breathing... but only on life support Jun 16, 2015

because investors are too stupid to bother asking the experts for opinions and keep throwing money at a combination of HAMPsteR* wheel + Roulette** wheel translation:

*Human-Assisted Machine Pseudo Translation" + **gambling on the unknown abilities of random anonymous amateur "translators" = perfect equation for a huge lawsuit!!!!

Philippe Etienne wrote:

Jeff Whittaker wrote:
Someone should start a "graveyard" site listing all these translation start-ups that have died.

And presently looking for PEMT editors from EN to FIGS.
The ad is worth a read.

Philippe


[Edited at 2015-06-16 20:59 GMT]


 
Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:08
English to German
+ ...
Poisoned well Jun 16, 2015

Jeff Whittaker wrote:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/23/unbabel-launches-a-human-edited-machine-translation-service-to-help-businesses-go-global-and-localize-customer-support/

Excerpt:
""... XXXX’s secret sauce leverages artificial intelligence software and its stable of over 3,100 editors (or translators) to translate a website’s content from one language into its customer’s language of choice. First, its machine learning technology translates the text from source into the target language, at which point it uses its Mechanical Turk-style distribution system to assign editing tasks to the right translators, who then check the translation for errors and for stylistic inconsistencies.
XXXX editors work remotely, via their laptops or mobile phones, on translations, which co-founder XXXXX says provides the key to faster translations. This, combined with the efficiency of its task distribution and administration algorithms, provides a level of efficiency that allows editors to earn up to $10/hour...


Except of course that these "editors" will not even look at the source text, but just scan the MT output for errors and will not catch anything that is grammatically correct or that makes sense, but is completely different from what the source document says. Not to mention the disaster of chopping the document into pieces or the complete lack of confidentiality if they are using a public MT system.



[Edited at 2014-03-25 21:30 GMT]


There exist very ridiculous propositions like the one you quoted here; there exist many other less (but still inadequate or exploitative) propositions for and expectations from translators from unprofessional agencies. It all is only possible as long as or because many people accept the propositions and actually carry out the work at these ridiculous terms. Unfortunately, I believe there are way too many ridiculous propositions, yes, but even worse, there are too many people who will accept them anyway. Therein lies the big problem of our profession. It makes it harder for the serious translators who will only provide quality services at adequate rates. But it's the only thing a professional can do. He/she must stick to adequate fees and workable conditions. Or find another profession.

Unfortunately, the younger a translator is, the less he/she expects to earn today. And the less an agency is willing to pay him/her. Evidence? Ridiculous proposals on job boards and ridiculous direct inquiries by agencies; feedback by translators for agencies with a never-ending series of 5 star ratings.

I wouldn't be too worried about the hilarious nonsense you quoted above. But I am worried about our profession because of people who are willing to sell their services for inadequate fees every day and don't even think it's inadequate. As a matter of fact, I propose the existence of a new, cheaper translator "type" who has been poisoning the well for quite some time now. But there are facilitators who enable this. I for one can't drink from that well. My advice to others is not to drink from that well either. Seek another, currently harder-to-find clean well.

[Edited at 2015-06-17 04:12 GMT]


 
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"Translation" for .02 a word from translators working on their phones for UP TO $10 an hour







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