11
Amazon is testing an AI tool that automatically translates books into other languages
(www.engadget.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2025
11 points (86.7% liked)
Technology
4739 readers
512 users here now
Which posts fit here?
Anything that is at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies and tech policy.
Post guidelines
[Opinion] prefix
Opinion (op-ed) articles must use [Opinion] prefix before the title.
Rules
1. English only
Title and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original link
Post URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communication
All communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. Inclusivity
Everyone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacks
Any kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangents
Stay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may apply
If something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.
Companion communities
!globalnews@lemmy.zip
!interestingshare@lemmy.zip
Icon attribution | Banner attribution
If someone is interested in moderating this community, message @brikox@lemmy.zip.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
But you are not Amazon. By this I mean that Amazon is not going to stop at old as-of-yet untranslated books. It will try to monetize it as hard as possible. And the next “Harry Potter” or “Dune” could be machine translated, losing a lot of subtext and dumbing down to the minimum any work of literature.
There are indeed so many ancient texts only available in their original language. So much “medicine” from the renaissance that’s waiting as a hidden jewel. A first rough translation could be a first step towards detecting new elements as of yet hidden. So many positive uses, none that Amazon will pursue.