Jazan, 15 February 2025 – As part of the "Jazan Book Fair 2025" programme, the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission organized a panel discussion titled "Translation and Artificial Intelligence," examining the role of modern technology in advancing translation and its impact on the field's future, attended by a group of specialists and enthusiasts.

How AI Has Transformed Translation

Moderated by Mawadah Al-Bariqi, the session hosted literary translator Dalal Nasrallah, who spoke about the importance of AI in improving translation efficiency through deep learning techniques and natural language processing. She noted that modern translation tools have become far better at understanding context and analyzing text compared with traditional methods.

Among the key benefits of AI in translation: improved translation quality and greater accuracy; instant translation that facilitates cross-cultural interaction; and lower costs alongside higher productivity across the translation industry.

Challenges Facing AI in Translation

Despite these advances, Nasrallah affirmed that artificial intelligence still faces significant challenges, particularly in translating literary and poetic texts, which require a deep understanding of cultural symbolism and complex context. She explained that machine translation can struggle to capture implicit meaning and creative linguistic structures, making the role of the human translator essential to ensuring accuracy and quality.

The Future of Translation: A Human-Machine Partnership

The session concluded with an open discussion on the future of translation amid advancing AI, with expectations that translation will increasingly adapt to cultural and linguistic nuance, while the need for human translators to ensure precise interpretation of complex contexts continues.

Jazan Book Fair 2025 welcomes visitors daily from 11am to midnight, opening on Fridays from 2pm to midnight, giving visitors the chance to explore the latest book releases and take part in a wide range of cultural events.