AI Versus Human Lexicographers: A Comparative Analysis of Translation Strategies for Arabic Collocations and Cultural References
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1603.03Keywords:
artificial intelligence, human lexicography, Arabic to English translation, ChatGPT, Google GeminiAbstract
Heliel (2000) identified a set of Arabic collocations and cultural references that have consistently challenged human lexicographers, with many opting to simply omit them from their compilations, including the widely used Al-Mawrid Arabic-English dictionary. Deploying Pedersen’s (2011) taxonomy of translation strategies, this study interpretatively evaluated 150 English translations of this set. The translations were mined from three Arabic-English bilingual dictionaries compiled by human lexicographers (Baalbaki, 2001; Abu-Ssaydeh, 2013; Hafiz, 2004) and two sets were generated by the two leading artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems: ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The findings reveal a striking contrast in strategy use: while human lexicographers frequently omitted difficult phrases, AI tools provided complete translations for all expressions (100%). Despite their relatively recent development and launch, the two AI-systems exhibited lexicographical capabilities comparable to human lexicographers, particularly in adopting target-oriented strategies. This suggests that such tools could complement traditional lexicography by enhancing coverage, efficiency, and contextual richness. Perhaps, a hybrid "H-AI" approach may well be the way forward.
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