A Study On The Interpreting Quality Of Artificial Intelligence From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Machine translation has developed enormously since 1949,and in February 2018,researchers from Microsoft Research Asia and Redmond Institute announce that machine translation can mock the process of human translation,which is called artificial intelligence translation.Artificial Intelligence transforms speech into written words via speech recognition technology,indicating words on a screen,and then translate them into another or several other languages.Computer systems can even voice the translation to the audience through speech synthesis technology while recognizing the speech simultaneously.In recent years,it has been debated if AI interpreting will take the place of human interpreters.Based on Skopos theory,this thesis testifies the interpreting quality of AI,so as to explore if the interpreting quality of AI is satisfying enough to function as a professional interpreter.One assumption is made:If AI(Easy Trans 800 and Mr.Translator)can meet the requirements for simultaneous interpreting,its interpreting quality should be better than that of human(student)interpreters in terms of qualitative and quantitative analyses from the perspective of Skopos theory.The result brings three findings:1.Compared with AI interpreting,human(student)interpreters are superior in conclusion and deduction,an ability essential to successful interpreting;2.Though AI interpreting is better at capturing details,it cannot understand and detect the logic and emotion behind them;3.Currently,the quality of AI interpreting cannot satiate the requirements for a professional interpreter.The result falsifies the assumption in that qualitative and quantitative analyses demonstrate that AI interpreting is influenced by elements including environment,accent,and pauses.They make speech recognition inaccurate and hence interpreting mistakes inevitably arise.This research also serves as a reference for human(student)interpreters to practice and improve.Though AI does not satisfy the requirements for simultaneous interpreting from the perspective of Skopos theory,the combination of AI and human will serve society better.With the help of AI,human interpreters can be more efficient and concentrate on more creative activities.