[o10449366]

Why? Would a incorrect but literal translation be closer or further from what the author is trying to communicate?

I've been seeing this take on HN a lot recently, but when it comes to translation current AI is far, far superior to what we had previously with Google Translate, etc.

If the substack was written in broken English there's no way it would even be appearing on the front page here, even less so if it was written in Chinese.

[the_af]

An incorrect but more authentic translation would seem more real, like an human earnestly trying to tell a story. We would accept the imperfections and have a subjective feeling of more authenticity.

Of course, even this can be faked, sadly.

[o10449366]

When the translation differs so much from what the author is trying to say in their native language, it loses its earnestness.

That's why translation is a job in the first place and you don't see publishers running whole books through Google translate. No one, least the authors, would accept that.