[chucky_z]

I don't actually think it's 'the end game.'

A vast majority of AI translations are usually enough to get the gist of the story but tend to miss a lot of really important with-context story clues. What I've found is that the best case is that you can get a 'speed translation' with AI, and then have a translator come in behind and clean it up. Much like using AI to generate the base of an image and then painting over top of it to fix any artistic choices it's made that the artist doesn't agree with.

[chocolatkey]

I agree that AI translations are not close to the standards many people would expect, but there is a significant, growing population of readers (many with EN as a second language) that are fine with reading MTL using extensions such as this or fan-translated MTL with human assistance, and it is what many new fan translators are opting for as old groups retire. The “speed translators” using MTL also demotivate the slower, better translators, as many people will no longer be as interested in their release. I don’t think human translation will cease for a long time, but in the meantime, MTL as a percentage of new fan translations will continue to grow

[Karrot_Kream]

The quality vs speed translating war has been ongoing forever now. Before I retired (a long time ago now) I had transitioned to quality groups because the speed oriented groups were producing such bad translations. MTL is just accelerating this.

[VincentEvans]

To provide a counterpoint to your hypothesis that “people are fine with easily accessible but subpar results” I often switch from dubbed anime english voiceover to original japanese that I don’t understand and prefer reading subtitles because they convey the meaning and humor much better than the americanized voiceover, and the voice actors are better.

I hope that AI generated simulacra will eventually take its rightful place next to microwave dinners in consumption hall of fame once the novelty wears off.

[gamacodre]

> they convey the meaning and humor much better than the americanized voiceover

I'm glad this isn't just me. I occasionally watch anime and the English dubs are seemingly universally terrible compared to the originals. Subtitles are annoying but nothing like listening to someone mumble their way though a script.

[BizarroLand]

I've read a few that were mangled horribly, people who didn't read other versions so they lost context or made really bad choices in the translation.

It will be a while before not only can the languages be translated but also the intent communicated in context.