Crunchyroll uses ChatGPT to translate subtitles, resulting in laughter from netizens.
Crunchyroll, a subsidiary of the SONY Group, has recently been exposed for using ChatGPT to produce subtitles, but the results have been quite disastrous.
According to foreign media (The Verge), American Reddit users discovered that while watching the July anime new show 'Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show', the English subtitles were filled with spelling mistakes and grammatical issues, such as the low-level error 'Is gameorver. if you fall, you are out.'
Even more ridiculous is that in the German subtitles, there were translations beginning with 'ChatGPT said,' which almost confirms that these texts are directly generated by AI without any human proofreading or editing before being published.
For users who pay to use Crunchyroll, this rough approach is surprising and exposes the platform's careless attitude toward subtitle quality.
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Crunchyroll once promised not to use AI for creative content, but now they are going back on their word?
Crunchyroll's use of ChatGPT for translation subtitles, along with their complete lack of proofreading, shows a significant gap compared to the previous promises made by the company's executives.
Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini clearly stated in an April interview with (Forbes): 'We will not consider using AI in the creative process,' emphasizing the need to maintain the authenticity of series and films, while promising not to use AI in a way that affects the work of voice actors.
However, the reality is that Crunchyroll, in order to quickly release translated subtitles for Japanese animations, has chosen to use ChatGPT to mass-produce subtitle content.
Translation is a professional job, especially when translating film and television works for overseas audiences, it is crucial to pay attention to the accuracy and readability of the translations to avoid misunderstandings that lead to confusion about the plot.
Although using ChatGPT for translation may help with cost control and upload speed, the consequence of the platform not proofreading is that they deliver terrible translation quality, severely impacting the viewing experience of the audience and contradicting Crunchyroll's initial promise of 'authenticity.'
Netflix also has bad translations, streaming platforms neglect overseas user experiences.
In streaming platforms that strictly control costs, the issue of poor translation quality is not an isolated case; for instance, Netflix's Chinese subtitles are also frequently criticized by netizens.
Even viewers who do not understand Japanese can clearly see translation errors from the Chinese characters on the screen. Some netizens pointed out that Netflix translated the 'English word dictionary' in the animation 'Youth Box' as 'Mathematics Dictionary' or that it translated 'C Code' in 'Spy x Family' as 'Nonsense Code'.
Image source: PTT netizens share that Netflix also has bad translations, streaming platforms neglect overseas user experiences.
Netizens generally believe that the translation quality of Netflix is so poor that it has become a consensus, with some even stating that it is worse than machine translation, which at least translates literally.
This phenomenon reflects that some streaming platforms, in order to save costs, often neglect the service quality for overseas users, preferring to use low-quality translation tools rather than investing in professional translation teams.
Is ChatGPT making streaming platforms lazier? Where do paying users go?
Streaming platforms that have treated translations casually in the past have still not improved even after the explosion of generative AI applications like ChatGPT.
What we see is a streaming platform eager to embrace generative AI technology, sacrificing translation content quality and user experience in pursuit of efficiency and cost control.
Even though many users are still willing to support legitimate viewing channels, as it helps film and television production teams earn revenue, sometimes viewers wonder whether it is really worth it to pay hundreds of NT dollars each month for such translation quality and viewing experience.
Further reading:
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'Crunchyroll uses ChatGPT for subtitles! The results have made netizens laugh, comparable to Netflix's bad translations.' This article was first published on 'Encrypted City'.