A new service promises to make fiction leap across language barriers for just $100 per book.
GlobeScribe has arrived in the UK, pitching artificial intelligence as an affordable answer for authors and publishers looking to reach readers in multiple countries.
The creators, Fred Freeman and Betsy Reavley, know their way around the literary world. They built a reputation with Bloodhound Books, publishing crime and thriller novels for both big houses and indie writers.
They believe that while classic translation still belongs in the kingdom of literature, automation could open doors that were previously closed by cost. They say GlobeScribe gives everyone, not just heavyweight publishers, a shot at getting stories into fresh hands.
“We recognise that parts of the industry are understandably cautious about what AI might mean for the arts, but we believe these tools are here to stay and that they should be embraced thoughtfully and responsibly,” Freeman and Reavley said.
To prove their point, GlobeScribe subjected their software to rigorous blind testing.
Native speakers compared AI-generated translations with human versions without knowing which was which. Feedback, according to the company, showed readers could not reliably tell the difference and sometimes even preferred the AI output for its faithfulness to the original.
Division in the World of Literary Translation
Not everyone is feeling as optimistic about this technological leap.
Ian Giles, chair of the Society of Authors’ Translators Association, worries that relying on machines for creative work like fiction could erode both the craft and the job market. Giles said that GlobeScribe “may claim to unlock global access for fiction, but their approach sidelines the very people who make literature resonate across cultures.”
Some literary translators argue that their role stretches well beyond just accuracy. Translating fiction is not simply about swapping one word for another. Polly Barton explained that the best translations “engage with the context from which the book has come, and reproduce the pacing, atmosphere, emotional timbre, rhythm, and all the other, less superficially obvious factors that ultimately determine how fulfilling and rich the reading experience is.”
Skepticism also extends to GlobeScribe’s testing. Barton questioned whether native speakers are always equipped to judge the full complexity of translated literature. Deepa Bhasthi, who recently won acclaim for translating Banu Mushtaq’s novel from Kannada, added that “we are not told what kind of texts they were given, what kind of readers the test subjects were.”
For now, GlobeScribe’s founders are keen to position their product as an auxiliary tool, not a replacement for human artistry. They suggest that AI could increase output and productivity for professionals and provide new opportunities for stories to travel farther.
Still, for many in the translation community, there is a lingering sense of unease over what this means for the future of their profession.
