Human translators are reporting steep income losses as AI-powered translation tools gain traction across industries. One Irish-language translator says he lost about 70% of his salary when EU translation work dried up, with remaining jobs for editing machine-generated text.

A 2024 UK survey found more than a third of translators had lost work due to generative AI, and 43% reported similar declines. Oxford University researchers estimate roughly 28,000 more US translator jobs would have existed without machine translation. The IMF's workforce of translators and interpreters has shrunk from 200 to 50 as the organization relies more heavily on technology.

Human professionals remain necessary in high-stakes contexts like legal, diplomatic, and medical translation, where nuance carries significant risk. But for many language workers, the shift is already forcing retraining or exit from the field entirely.