Article

Visibility of Abundance and Immediacy in the Language Practices of Using AI and Its Surrounding Anxieties

This paper explores the use of artificial intelligence as a helpful tool in writing and in the early stages of language translations and reviews the abuse of AI power used by the Znak publishing house. By analyzing the controversy of translating a novel with artificial intelligence, this paper aims to draw attention to contemporary society, where immediacy is being recognized and criticized.

Patrycja Bieńko

Published date

12/02/2025 - 09:02

Courses

Reading and writing in online culture

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Read time

6 minutes

Artificial intelligence is becoming a visible, everyday aspect of our lives. We can find it in the form of self-scan registers in grocery stores, automated notifications about appointments in the calendar, or chatbots. Lately, there has been a discussion about the usage of AI in art, academia, creative writing and jobs that usually require human assistance or knowledge. For example, what happens when artificial intelligence is a replacement for a translator of a newly published book? This paper investigates the implications of such an event, using a case study of Polish publishing house Znak using AI to translate the novel “Whale” written by Cheon Myeong-Kwan. Before diving into the casestudy, this paper introduces and reflects on several concepts in relation to AI such as abundance in writing, limitation in translation, immediacy and anxiety in society. These concepts function as a lense to understand the "Whale" casestudy.

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Artificial Intelligence - Abundance in Writing and Limitation in Translation

Some academics argue that AI can improve the writing process of an author “by leading the author to make a greater number of meaningful creative decisions, drawing out unexpressed elements of the author’s intent and provoking them to refine this intent further (...). It may even bring an abundance of the author, in which every word of a piece has been considered more carefully and from more different angles than the author could otherwise manage or afford” (Kreminski, 2024, p. 49).

For example, this abundance happens when Sheila Heti (2022) from The Paris Review uses an AI chatbot as a tool in her creative project “Hello, World! Part One: Eliza”. She utilizes the chatbot to create interesting stories but also shows the absurdity and underdevelopment of artificial intelligence in recognizing human emotions. Conversations with Eliza portray AI’s ability to recreate human behavior patterns, however, it fails to apply those behaviors to the right contexts.

AI works as a helpful, yet sometimes uncontrollable, tool in creative writing. Nonetheless, in comparison to human work, it fails in the realm of language translation. “While artificial intelligence translation has made great strides in recent years and can provide fast and cost-effective options, it still has many limitations. Human translation, on the other hand, offers a deeper understanding of the cultural context and nuances of the translated text: a skilled human translator can accurately convey the intended meaning and tone of the original text” (Moneus & Sharai, 2024, p. 11).

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AI and Society

“AI is developing at an extremely rapid pace. We should expect to see significant changes in our society as AI systems become embedded in many aspects of our lives” (Leroy, 2021, p. xi). The digital and AI-driven reality we are experiencing now is characterized by immediacy, where we are constantly surrounded by direct forms of dense information. Kornbluh (2024) defines immediacy as an aspect of society that values directness, transparency and urgency. It works at the expense of critical engagement and finding depth in the information. This aspect highlights the need for speed and constant movement, where people prefer quick and direct responses or results, without taking in-between steps, but taking the shortcut. “This is the beginning of a silent but very present revolution that is happening right before our eyes” (Leroy, 2021, p. xii).

“The public has concerns including unpredictability, a sense of emptiness, anxiety, guilt over potential AI-related catastrophes, fear of condemnation due to ethical dilemmas in AI, and apprehensions about humanity’s future in an AI-dominated era.” (Alkhalifah, Bedaiwi, Shaikh, Seddiq, & Meo, 2024, p. 11).

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Failed AI Book Translation, Znak and the “Whale”

@alekbozio on Tiktok

In one of her Tiktok videos (fig. 1), lifestyle and book influencer Aleksandra Bozio (2024) discussed a controversy surrounding one of the most popular Polish publishing houses Znak translating a book using AI. The victim novel of this scandal was “Whale” by Korean writer Cheon Myeong-Kwan. The issue was brought to light by a Korean language teacher @pani_od_koreanskiego, when she shared on her educational Instagram account fragments of the text where words were used in the wrong contexts, making the text difficult to understand. Bozio (2024) added two important remarks to this discussion. First, the Korean government funded a great budget for “Whale” to be translated into many languages and gain international recognition. Second, the novel was not translated from Korean to Polish, but from English to Polish.

The Znak publishing house used AI to minimize costs instead of hiring translators and trying to profit from the funded budget. The influencer also stressed the complexity of languages: cultural references, idioms, nuances and the writer’s intentions are important factors demanding a human element for a good translation. Znak failed to recognize the implications of using artificial intelligence in complex translations or perhaps chose to ignore the differences in the work quality between human translators and AI translators.

This works as an example of immediacy in today’s society when the company took a shortcut for a low-effort, fast and low-cost translation, dismissing the value of the outcome. Fans of Korean literature also showed their disappointment about the situation and shared their opinions and fears regarding the usage of artificial intelligence in translation fields.

To understand the controversies regarding this case, three comments will be presented and analyzed, using the concepts defined at the beginning of this article.

Figure 2: *“As a professional translator I am disappointed, but on the other hand I hope that AI will not take my job away. As you said, the human element in translating is essential”.*

Figure 3: “Oh my God, I am glad I saw your Tiktok, they offered me to advertise this book and when I was reading it something did not feel right and I did not know if it was a “me problem” or if something was wrong with the book”.

Figure 4 : *“AI in translating should be only used as a helpful tool for translators, publishing a book without human -post-edition is insane”.*

The reactions are very similar and reflect three main reflections: first, this type of artificial intelligence use produces anxiety and professionals feel threatened by being replaced by AI; second, people believe that AI should be only used as a tool in the process of translating; third, translating books always requires the human element otherwise, it creates an unpleasant text for the reader, which is difficult to follow, decreasing the novel’s value and meaning.

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AI in translation

The use of artificial intelligence in writing, especially in translation works, displayed both advantages and disadvantages. AI may allow authors to boost the creative process of writing and bring abundance. However, the limitations in fields like translation highlight the necessity and irreplaceability of the human element. The case study of Znak publishing house using artificial intelligence to translate a novel highlights the risks of immediacy and cost-cutting over craft and quality. In addition, it shows rising anxieties about AI’s power and position in society, its impact on professional fields and its influence on the respect for literature. Artificial intelligence is and will be a visible and impactful aspect of society, therefore it is important to ensure that further technological developments will enhance but not change the importance of human jobs.

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References

Alkhalifah, J. M., Bedaiwi, A. M., Shaikh, N., Seddiq, W., & Meo, S. A. (2024). Existential anxiety about artificial intelligence (AI)- is it the end of humanity era or a new chapter in the human revolution: questionnaire-based observational study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1368122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1368122

Bozio, A. (2024, October 29). [Znak publisher using AI to translate a book] [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@aleksbozio/video/7431162576467152150

Heti, S. (2022, November 14). Hello, World! Part One: Eliza. The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/11/14/hello-world-part-one-eliza/

Kornbluh, A. (2024). Immediacy, or the style of too late capitalism. Verso Books.

Kreminski, M. (2024). The Dearth of the Author in AI-Supported Writing. n2Writing ’24: Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants, 48–50. https://doi.org/10.1145/3690712.3690725

Leroy, J. B. (2021). Societal responsibility of artificial intelligence: towards an ethical and eco-responsible AI. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119831808

Moneus, A. M., & Sahari, Y. (2024). Artificial intelligence and human translation: A contrastive study based on legal texts. Heliyon, 10(6), e28106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28106

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