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Poll: Does using AI in translation constitute breach of confidentiality?
Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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May 8, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Does using AI in translation constitute breach of confidentiality?".

This poll was originally submitted by Vladimir Dubisskiy. View the poll results »



 
Alex Lichanow
Alex Lichanow
Германија
Local time: 19:03
англиски на германски
+ ...
Depends May 8, 2025

There are too many factors involved to answer this question with a clear yes or no.
- Does an NDA or similar confidentiality agreement exist?
- What LLM is being used?
- Who is providing the "AI" pre-translation (end-client, LSP, translator)?
- Is the LLM public or local?

The way most LSPs use so-called "AI" to generate pre-trashlations is dodgy at best. If I run my own LLM on my local machine and do not let it access the toxic wasteland that is the wide-open
... See more
There are too many factors involved to answer this question with a clear yes or no.
- Does an NDA or similar confidentiality agreement exist?
- What LLM is being used?
- Who is providing the "AI" pre-translation (end-client, LSP, translator)?
- Is the LLM public or local?

The way most LSPs use so-called "AI" to generate pre-trashlations is dodgy at best. If I run my own LLM on my local machine and do not let it access the toxic wasteland that is the wide-open internet, then I do not expose my work to any potential breaches of confidentiality.

Also, could we please have polls that have nothing to do with "AI" for a change? It's tiring.
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Samuel Murray
expressisverbis
Mario Chávez
Gjorgji Apostolovski
Lingua 5B
Oscar Núñez Alfaro
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Португалија
Local time: 18:03
Член (2007)
англиски на португалски
+ ...
Hear, hear! May 8, 2025

Also, could we please have polls that have nothing to do with "AI" for a change? It's tiring.


P.L.F. Persi (X)
expressisverbis
writeaway
Ian Keith Jones Williams
Mario Chávez
Ana Cravidao
Jennifer Levey
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Белгија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
Not necessarily May 8, 2025

Payed subscriptions constitute lawful agreements in which is explicitely stated that your data won't be disclosed to third parties or, in the case of DeepL, even will be deleted. This means they are as valid or invalid as the well-known NDAs or other agreements. You can't be sure they will be respected, but they are a legal and therefore acceptable basis to conduct business.

Different story for free versions. The professional use of them is totally unacceptable, but I believe it wou
... See more
Payed subscriptions constitute lawful agreements in which is explicitely stated that your data won't be disclosed to third parties or, in the case of DeepL, even will be deleted. This means they are as valid or invalid as the well-known NDAs or other agreements. You can't be sure they will be respected, but they are a legal and therefore acceptable basis to conduct business.

Different story for free versions. The professional use of them is totally unacceptable, but I believe it would be extremely naive to think they aren't widely used by "professional" translators.
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Jorge Payan
Oscar Núñez Alfaro
Rachel Waddington
Philip Lees
bkking
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Белгија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
AI fatigue May 8, 2025

Alex Lichanow wrote:
Also, could we please have polls that have nothing to do with "AI" for a change? It's tiring.


I understand the AI fatigue, but this specific poll question is relevant to the freelance translation industry.

I'll prefer this any day over poll questions about which languages are spoken the most or whether I prefer coffee or tea at my desk.


Sebastian Witte
Mario Chávez
Jorge Payan
Oscar Núñez Alfaro
Christine Andersen
Rachel Waddington
Enrico Zoffoli
 
Ahmadreza Karami
Ahmadreza Karami
Обединети Арапски Емирати
Local time: 21:03
англиски на персиски (фарси)
+ ...
It does mostly May 8, 2025

As you know most GAI chatbots which are popular right now are using the new data they receive as a training material which also raises question about copyright issues in some cases which is another topic. Nevertheless, use of AI in case of giving full text or at least some sentences, could be a breach of confidentiality. Of course if you have not signed and NDA and the customer does not require it, you have no legal problem but the fact remains that the text and possibly the translation which yo... See more
As you know most GAI chatbots which are popular right now are using the new data they receive as a training material which also raises question about copyright issues in some cases which is another topic. Nevertheless, use of AI in case of giving full text or at least some sentences, could be a breach of confidentiality. Of course if you have not signed and NDA and the customer does not require it, you have no legal problem but the fact remains that the text and possibly the translation which you approved after going back and forth with the chatbot is in the dataset of the AI, waiting to be trained on.
But if using the AI is just for understanding small parts of a text, mostly less than a sentence, it could be considered a good enough way to prevent your work leaking to the hand of others for use. From this point forward, it is personal preference whether you want it to be used by others or the public or not.
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Maria Laura Curzi
 
Alex Lichanow
Alex Lichanow
Германија
Local time: 19:03
англиски на германски
+ ...
AI fatigue May 8, 2025

Lieven Malaise wrote:

Alex Lichanow wrote:
Also, could we please have polls that have nothing to do with "AI" for a change? It's tiring.


I understand the AI fatigue, but this specific poll question is relevant to the freelance translation industry.

I'll prefer this any day over poll questions about which languages are spoken the most or whether I prefer coffee or tea at my desk.


Can't argue with that, but all these constant AI-related polls are just giving additional free publicity to a technology that is already deteriorating to the point where it's less useful than one or two years ago.
We should at least make its developers pay rent, since so far, it's living rent-free in our minds and is being a disgusting slob about it.


expressisverbis
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Mario Chávez
Carla Selyer
Thayenga
Lingua 5B
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Холандија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2006)
англиски на африканс
+ ...
@Lieven May 8, 2025

Lieven Malaise wrote:
Paid subscriptions constitute [legal] agreements in which is explicitly stated that your data won't be disclosed to third parties or, in the case of DeepL, [will even] be deleted.

In my opinion, free use also constitutes a legal agreement, if the website has a terms-of-service page linked to from a relatively obvious location. So, if the engine claims not to share your data, and you trust that company, then that's just as good as a paid subscription in which the company promises the same thing.

As far as I know, there is no difference in the data retention policies between the free and the paid versions of ChatGPT, for example.


 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Белгија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
. May 8, 2025

Samuel Murray wrote:
As far as I know, there is no difference in the data retention policies between the free and the paid versions of ChatGPT, for example.


I've always thought that free versions don't guarantee that your data (this also includes your source text) won't be passed on or used for other purposes, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Curious, though, that the paid version of DeepL explicitely states in its app (in a banner at the bottom) that your data is protected, while the free version doesn't (or at least didn't).


 
Gjorgji Apostolovski
Gjorgji Apostolovski  Identity Verified
Македонија
Local time: 19:03
англиски на македонски
+ ...
interesting May 8, 2025

Lieven Malaise wrote:

Samuel Murray wrote:
As far as I know, there is no difference in the data retention policies between the free and the paid versions of ChatGPT, for example.


I've always thought that free versions don't guarantee that your data (this also includes your source text) won't be passed on or used for other purposes, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Curious, though, that the paid version of DeepL explicitely states in its app (in a banner at the bottom) that your data is protected, while the free version doesn't (or at least didn't).


Interesting.

I don't use both versions, but what you've described is like a racket. "So if you pay us, we will protect you, if you don't pay us, well..."
And same for "If you pay membership, we can find you clients", it's like bribery.

[Edited at 2025-05-08 11:28 GMT]


Alex Lichanow
Thayenga
Maria Laura Curzi
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Белгија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
Bribery May 8, 2025

Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
"So if you pay us, we will protect you, if you don't pay us, well..."
And same for "If you pay membership, we can find you clients", it's like bribery.

[Edited at 2025-05-08 11:28 GMT]


It is. Just like translation. "I'll deliver you a translation only if you agree to pay for it."

Or perhaps it's just called "offering a service that no one is obliged to purchase". Imagine being paid for that.


Michelle den Boer
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Холандија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2006)
англиски на африканс
+ ...
@Gjorgji May 8, 2025

Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
I don't use both versions, but what you've described is like a racket. "So if you pay us, we will protect you, if you don't pay us, well..."

You always pay, even for a free service. With a paid service, you pay with money. With a free service, you pay in other ways, e.g. by providing content that you submit. So, for most free services, they may use or even resell your content, but that is what you agree to when you use their service. You get something by giving something.


Lieven Malaise
Ahmadreza Karami
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Rachel Waddington
 
Gjorgji Apostolovski
Gjorgji Apostolovski  Identity Verified
Македонија
Local time: 19:03
англиски на македонски
+ ...
on which side you are? May 8, 2025

Lieven Malaise wrote:

Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
"So if you pay us, we will protect you, if you don't pay us, well..."
And same for "If you pay membership, we can find you clients", it's like bribery.

[Edited at 2025-05-08 11:28 GMT]


It is. Just like translation. "I'll deliver you a translation only if you agree to pay for it."

Or perhaps it's just called "offering a service that no one is obliged to purchase". Imagine being paid for that.


You are wrong about "I'll deliver you a translation only if you agree to pay for it."
There is a natural demand for translation services, otherwise majority of people around the world won't understand each other.

So if someone wants to spend some of my time, and knowledge to do translation services for them, on which they'll earn big money, then ofc I'll charge them, that's why we are here, right? To submit our applications on offers made by clients. This is not bribery, my friend.


Samuel Murray wrote:

Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
I don't use both versions, but what you've described is like a racket. "So if you pay us, we will protect you, if you don't pay us, well..."

You always pay, even for a free service. With a paid service, you pay with money. With a free service, you pay in other ways, e.g. by providing content that you submit. So, for most free services, they may use or even resell your content, but that is what you agree to when you use their service. You get something by giving something.



Are you 100% sure that with paid service you don't providing content or that your content won't be resold? No, you aren't.

Every human made system, computers, etc... can be bridged by humans. Security, cameras, networks, every single thing invented by humans can be bridged, but that doesn't mean that you won't be caught, but the point is that all can be bridged.

And, yes, I've done some voluntary work. Just the other I finished the Macedonian localization for Subtitle Edit, a free software for subtitles.

[Edited at 2025-05-08 13:36 GMT]


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Германија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2009)
англиски на германски
+ ...
Too much of anything can ruin everything May 8, 2025

Alex Lichanow wrote:

Can't argue with that, but all these constant AI-related polls are just giving additional free publicity to a technology that is already deteriorating to the point where it's less useful than one or two years ago.
We should at least make its developers pay rent, since so far, it's living rent-free in our minds and is being a disgusting slob about it.


My thoughts to the letter, Alex. As soon as I read the poll's title, I thought that maybe we could use some AI in order to instantly remove all AI-related polls.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Laura Curzi
Mónica Algazi
expressisverbis
Philip Lees
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Белгија
Local time: 19:03
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
Services May 8, 2025

Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
So if someone wants to spend some of my time, and knowledge to do translation services for them, on which they'll earn big money, then ofc I'll charge them, that's why we are here, right? To submit our applications on offers made by clients. This is not bribery, my friend.


I'll skip the sarcasm next time. Of course translation has got nothing to do with bribery, just like ChatGPT. They are services for God's sake. If you want them, you'll have to pay for them. And yes, promising to not use your input for any other reason than the service itself can be another service for which you have to pay. Nothing weird or wrong about that.


bkking
 
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Poll: Does using AI in translation constitute breach of confidentiality?






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