Why you should not be using ChatGPT for transcription/translation
Dear German Community,
After seeing numerous people trying to use various AI tools for transcription and translation of old German records, I am very frustrated about the results, and concerned that people may be taking the AI results at face value. Don't!
Here is an excellent article by Katherine Schober of Genealogy Unlocked, explaining the pitfalls of AI for German transcription and translation at this point in time. Please read it, and take her message to heart before blindly accepting the results of an AI request.
Comments
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Thank you @sylviaelchinger1 for this much-needed article which is timely and spot-on.
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It is important to distinguish between transcription and translation in this context. Transcription involves converting old handwritten German records into typed, machine readable German text. Translation is the conversion of this typed German text into English.
I fully agree with the present uselessness and even the potential harmfulness of using AI tools for transcribing old handwritten records, especially if you are unable to understand the German text.
However, the situation is different when it comes to translating correctly transcribed records, for example by an expert genealogist. AI translation programs (e.g. DeepL) are now of a high enough quality to generally outperform average non-native English speakers.
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