TLDR: Professor Eun-Gwi Chung of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) believes that while AI has lowered barriers to understanding foreign literature, its translations are ‘flat’ and lack the profound interpretive depth, patience, and decisiveness inherent in human translation. She emphasizes that the translator’s role in exploring interpretive possibilities has become even more crucial, particularly in literary works like poetry, where complex emotions and cultural nuances are paramount. Chung highlights ‘translation afterwords’ as a unique human contribution that AI cannot replicate.
Amid growing concerns that generative AI could overwhelm the translation industry, Professor Eun-Gwi Chung, an English literature professor and translator at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), recently shared an optimistic outlook on the future of human translation. In an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper on October 12, 2025, Professor Chung acknowledged AI’s contribution to making foreign literature and culture more accessible, stating, ‘Thanks to AI, the barriers to understanding foreign literature and culture have been lowered. However, the translator’s role in pushing interpretive possibilities to their limits has only become more vital.’
Professor Chung, renowned for her two decades of work translating Anglo-American poetry, recently released her third essay collection, ‘Words of a Translator.’ In this book, she delves into the intricate joys and sorrows of uncovering hidden meanings within poetic lines and stanzas. Throughout her work, she maintains a cautious stance on AI’s capabilities, concluding that ‘AI lacks the slow patience and sharp decisiveness required for translation.’
She elaborated on this limitation, explaining, ‘The charm of poetry lies in how a single poem can vividly reveal the intersection of a nation’s history and culture. It can also capture complex emotions, such as love and hate. Translating such works requires long and intricate deliberation. But AI draws flat, hasty conclusions far too quickly.’ This perspective underscores a fundamental difference between human and artificial intelligence in the realm of creative interpretation.
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Professor Chung also pointed to ‘translation afterwords’ as a domain uniquely human. These reflections, often penned after the arduous process of translation, capture the lingering regrets over potential mistranslations and the continuous pursuit of a better outcome. She writes in her book, ‘Afterwords are precisely where AI cannot reach.’ She added, ‘Sometimes, I finish a translation but am too exhausted to write the afterword. In those cases, I simply wait. Only when the afterword is properly written does the work truly feel complete.’ This highlights the deeply personal and reflective nature of human interpretation, a quality that speed-driven AI cannot replicate.
