国际翻译动态丨提问! 你会投资AI翻译初创企业吗？

翻译技术教育与研究 2025年02月28日 08:04

小编速览

2024 年语言行业因 AI 翻译技术变革显著。更多机构将 AI 融入业务，不少企业把 AI 翻译集成到产品。对 2025 年业务前景，近三分之一读者表示乐观。当前并购交易活跃，初创企业融资增加，尤其细分领域独特的企业。关于是否投资 AI 翻译初创企业，读者意见不一。在政府机构应用方面，美英等国在相关领域探讨使用 AI 翻译，多数读者认为法庭口译应用 AI 应谨慎。2024 年 AI 催生新术语，“专家参与闭环” 在读者影响力排序中居首。

Would You Invest in a Translation AI Startup?

您会投资翻译人工智能初创企业吗？

2024 was a most interesting year for the language industry. AI translation has irreversibly changed the way services are provided, and as has happened any time a disruptive technology takes hold of a market segment, there have been shifts for LSPs and buyers alike, with some bankruptcies but also a healthy amount of M&As and investment rounds.

2024年堪称语言服务行业最具变革性的一年。人工智能（AI）翻译技术已不可逆转地改变了语言服务提供方式。正如每次颠覆性技术占据某一市场领域时都会出现的情况，语言服务提供商（LSP）和采购方都经历了深刻变革——既有部分企业破产退出，同时也出现了活跃的并购交易和融资活动。

More organizations, public and private, are incorporating AI into various business areas, including language access — adapting/adopting, or partnering with language technology companies. An increasing number of companies are also outright integrating AI translation as a feature (TaaF) into their existing products via large language models (LLMs).

越来越多的公共机构与企业正将人工智能整合至多个业务领域，语言服务领域尤甚——通过调整现有技术、采用新方案，或直接与语言技术公司建立战略合作。越来越多的企业正通过大语言模型（LLM），将人工智能翻译以功能形式（TaaF）深度集成至现有产品中。

We asked readers about their business outlook for 2025, and close to a third (29.8%) of the respondents are optimistic and see it as positive. For almost a quarter (24.6%) things could be slightly negative this year, while the rest of the readers see their immediate future as very positive (15.8%), neutral (15.8%), or very negative (14.0%).

Slator针对2025年业务前景对读者开展调研，近三分之一（29.8%）的受访者持乐观态度并看好未来趋势。近四分之一（24.6%）的受访者认为今年业务前景可能略显疲软，其余读者则对未来前景持不同态度：非常乐观（15.8%）、持中立态度（15.8%）或非常悲观（14.0%）。

（图片来自Slator官网）

Would You Invest?

您会考虑投资吗？

Slator research shows there is now a stronger M&A deal flow than in 2023, and motivated sellers are making it a buyer's market. Startups are receiving increased funding, particularly those with unique offerings in niche areas. While AI is disrupting the industry, it is also creating new opportunities. Companies successfully integrating AI and demonstrating feasible business models are attracting investment.

Slator研究显示，当前并购（M&A）交易数据较2023年更为强劲。在这一背景下，急于出售的卖方正推动市场转向买方主导。初创企业融资热度攀升，尤其是在细分领域具备独特解决方案的企业更受资本青睐。行业虽面临AI冲击，资本却在新兴领域发现增长点。那些成功深度整合人工智能技术并验证可行商业模式的企业，正持续吸引资本加注。

So would readers put their money where their work is? We asked readers as 2025 began if they would invest in an AI Translation startup. Opinions were spread out, with two identical cohorts (22.5% each) saying that it depends or probably not. An additional two equal-size groups (17.5% each) answered “of course” or “too many eggs in that basket already.” The rest (20%) would never make such an investment.

那么，企业是否会加大对主营领域的投资力度？2025年伊始，我们便开展读者调研，询问其是否会投资人工智能翻译初创企业。受访者意见呈现分散态势，两个比例相当的群体（各占22.5%）未明确承诺投资，分别表示“需视具体情况而定”或“可能不会投资”。另有两个规模相当的群体（各占17.5%）分别表示“肯定会投资”或“该领域已呈现投资过热”。其余20%的受访者则表示绝不会进行此类投资。

（图片来自Slator官网）

AI’s Resolute Pace

人工智能势不可挡

To a degree, measured in terms of the risks implied and any quality assurance guards in place, government agencies could greatly benefit from AI written and speech translation. In the US, for example, multiple states are leveraging OpenAI and other options, including Pocketalk, in settings like education, unemployment, small business, and others.

在合理控制潜在风险并建立有效质量保障机制的前提下，政府机构可从人工智能驱动的文本与语音翻译技术获益匪浅。以美国为例，多个州已在教育、失业救助、中小企业服务等领域引入OpenAI及Pocketalk等解决方案。

In the UK, where for a few years now the Ministry of Justice has been scrutinizing the way translation and interpreting services are provided in the Courts and Tribunals System, the use of AI for court interpreting was part of the most recent debates on the ongoing inquiry.

在英国，英国司法部数年来持续审查法庭及裁判所系统的笔译与口译服务供给模式，而人工智能在法庭口译中的应用已成为这项调查最新阶段的核心议题之一。

Lord Porter of Spalding argued during a session on the subject in Parliament that if the health service was starting to embrace the technology, the courts should too, stating that the consequences of using AI in that setting are “not as dire as they would be in the health service.”

斯伯丁的波特勋爵（Lord Porter of Spalding）在相关主题的议会辩论中主张，既然医疗系统已开始接纳人工智能技术，司法系统亦应跟进。他强调，在司法场景中应用人工智能的潜在风险“远低于医疗系统可能出现的最坏情况”。

We asked readers how they think the use of AI in court interpreting should indeed proceed, and the majority (66.7%) chose the option to use caution. Less than a quarter (21.6%) opted for the more cautious approach to launch a pilot first, and the rest of respondents (11.7%) would actually start using the technology immediately.

我们针对“应如何推进人工智能在法庭口译中的应用”开展读者调研，超六成（66.7%）受访者选择“审慎推进”这一立场。不到四分之一的受访者（21.6%）选择了更为谨慎的方式，即先启动试点，其余的受访者（11.7%）则会立即开始使用该技术。

（图片来自Slator官网）

New Lingo Taking Hold

新兴术语渐成主流

AI has regaled us with quite a few new terms, and although it is not easy to rank them in terms of importance across all language applications and individuals, some terms are decidedly more frequently used and impactful than others, such as “agentic machine translation.”

人工智能技术已催生出众多新兴术语。虽然难以对所有语言应用场景和个人使用者进行重要性排序，但诸如“自主式机器翻译（agentic machine translation）”等术语，显然在使用频率与行业影响力上占据显著优势。

As 2024 came to a close, we looked at the terms that were more influential in the narrative around language AI throughout the year, and decided that “agentic machine translation” was indeed on the top five, along with “translation as a feature” (TaaF), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), “prosody,” and the still hotly debated “Expert-in-the-Loop,” whose role continues to morph with the technology.

2024年临近尾声，我们梳理了全年语言AI领域最具影响力的核心术语，最终认定“自主式机器翻译（Agentic Machine Translation）”确属年度五大关键术语之列。与之并列的还包括：“翻译即功能（TaaF）”、检索增强生成（Retrieval Augmented Generation, RAG）、韵律学（Prosody），以及争议热度未减的“专家参与闭环（Expert-in-the-Loop）”——其角色定位正随技术迭代持续演变。

We asked readers to rank these terms, and Expert-in-the-Loop garnered the most votes (34.5%). Translation as a Feature (TaaF) was a close second (30.9%), while agentic machine translation was the top term for about one in six poll respondents (16.4%). Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) was the top term for a tenth (10.9%) of readers and the rest chose “other” terms (7.3%).

我们邀请读者对上述术语进行影响力排序，“专家参与闭环（Expert-in-the-Loop）以34.5%的得票率位居榜首。“翻译即功能（TaaF）”以30.9%的得票率紧随其后，而“自主式机器翻译（Agentic Machine Translation）”则在约六分之一（16.4%）的受访者中位列首选术语。检索增强生成（Retrieval Augmented Generation, RAG）以10.9%的得票率成为约一成读者的首选术语，其余7.3%的受访者则选择了“其他”术语。