A recent announcement by Reddit to bring AI-powered translations to scores of new countries drew my attention. I have been using it for many years, though I have always felt it was too English-centric. Of course, there are subreddits in other languages, but the bulk of the content happens to be in English. When I heard about this new feature being brought into action, I thought it would be exciting. The more I think about it, however, the more skeptical I become.
First, the positives: the auto-translation of posts and comments is really useful.
Quite often I came across a very interesting thread, and it was such a pain when it was in languages I didn't understand, having to copy-paste into Google Translate. But since this is now offered natively by Reddit, it's much more convenient.
That's where the skepticism sets in: the fact is that machine translation, even with AI, isn't quite there yet. Anyone who's used Google Translate before knows how nuances, idioms, and context so often get lost in translation, and that's what Reddit is all about: nuanced discussions, witty comments, and cultural references. How much of that is going to get lost when everything gets run through an AI translator?
I am also concerned about the potential misunderstandings this could generate. Discussions on Reddit can turn heated at times, and subtlety in wording may just increase conflict. Imagine a sarcastic comment getting translated word for word, or a cultural reference being completely misunderstood. It's a recipe for disaster.
Then, of course, there's community identity.
Many of the non-English subreddits have had their own special cultures and language norms. In making everything instantly translatable, are we running the risk of homogenizing these communities? Will the quirks and charms of various language subreddits disappear?
Less charitably, it feels like a play to boost Reddit's numbers—and more to the point, its ad revenue. The company went public not so long ago, and expanding into new markets would be a pretty obvious way to achieve growth. But what does it cost in terms of discussion and community quality?
I'm not against the idea of making Reddit more accessible to those who don't speak English, but this approach seems a bit too simplistic for the complex, nuanced world of online discussions.
What really needs to occur is more support for multilingual moderators and community contributions of translations on Reddit's part.
Instead of leveraging AI for translations, it could have invested in a feature to help the bilingual user base contribute translations.
That leaves me with mixed feelings about this new feature.
Sure, it might make Reddit more accessible to a worldwide audience; nevertheless, I fear that it will dilute what keeps people coming back to Reddit, which is community-driven, culturally diverse content.