Potential impact of QT21

This paper describes the QT21 project from the perspective of the International Federation of Translators (FIT) in three main parts. Firstly, six of the ways that humans currently relate with machine translation (MT) systems will be outlined, leading up to a seventh way that will be discussed in more detail. Huge volumes of texts need to be translated in different sectors of the economy globally. A feasible approach to meeting this need is to employ both raw MT and humans, including translators, in addressing the world's translation needs. Secondly, analytic evaluation of MT quality by human translators will be introduced, focusing on the MQM framework. This seventh way involves annotation, by humans, of specific errors in the raw MT using standardized error categories, rather than only generating a single number indicating overall quality. Lastly, the potential impact of QT21 on MT and professional translators will be reflected on. Through FIT, human translators will be able to participate in the development of improved MT systems. This will help them give objective advice to clients and to guide the developers of next generation translation tools. FIT’s position is there will be enough work for translators who do not feel threatened by MT.