Slashed pay, soaring workloads: AI didn’t take these Hongkongers’ jobs - but it hasn’t made them easier

The rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping the landscape for freelance translators in Hong Kong, leading to drastically reduced pay and intensified workloads. While AI has not entirely eliminated human roles, it has fundamentally altered the industry, pushing for faster turnaround times and accepting lower compensation for tasks like editing and rewriting AI-generated subtitles.

Freelance translator Kelly Ng shared her experience, noting that she now edits and rewrites two TV episodes' worth of AI-generated subtitles in a single day for half the pay she received three years ago. This shift to "machine translation post-editing" has resulted in a significant pay cut, with one company dropping rates from HK$30 per minute of sitcom dialogue to as low as HK$9, a 70% reduction.

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You won’t be getting the Gayle treatment in my post-winning Oprah lifestyle.

Research suggests that AI will "reshape more jobs than it replaces," with a significant portion of jobs expected to change substantially rather than disappear entirely. However, these transformations are not necessarily benefiting workers. Louiszen Yip, a system designer, has seen his workload quadruple due to AI coding tools, leading to sky-high expectations for efficiency while pay remains stagnant.

Manual subtitling jobs have become scarce as streaming platforms and translation agencies increasingly rely on AI-generated drafts. This evolving environment presents a challenging future for translators, who face pressure to adapt to new technologies while grappling with diminished earnings and increased demands on their time and expertise.

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