Amazon launches an AI-powered Kindle Translate service for ebook authors

Amazon on Thursday announced the launch of Kindle Translate, an AI-powered translation service designed for authors using Kindle Direct Publishing to expand their reach. The service will initially translate text between English and Spanish and from German to English, as it is still in beta. More languages ​​will be supported over time.

The retail giant noted that less than 5% of titles on Amazon are available in more than one language, suggesting there is a big opportunity for AI translations.

Of course, AI is not perfect, which means it can introduce errors into the text. To address this, Amazon offers authors the ability to preview their translations before publishing, if desired. If the author isn’t using the service to simply speed up the translation of his work into another language he speaks, this ability to control the AI’s work won’t do him much good; if they wanted to ensure the best accuracy, they still needed a human translator to review the AI ​​output.

(Amazon claims its AI translations are “automatically reviewed for accuracy” before publication, but doesn’t specify what steps are involved in this part of the process.)

The company says authors can manage and access their translations through the Kindle Direct Publishing portal, where they can choose the languages, set prices, and publish their translated work.

Readers, meanwhile, will see AI-translated works clearly labeled as “Kindle Translate” titles and can preview the translation.

Kindle Translate competes of a lot of other AI-powered translation services And tools on the market, whose prices can vary and which offer a broader support base more languages. There are also open source tools. Some people in the industry criticize the use of AI in this way, saying human translators are better at capturing nuances – especially in fiction and other literary works. But AI is improving on this front and will likely get even better over time.

According to Amazon, the Kindle translation service is currently offered for free announcementwhich quotes an early tester praising this aspect of the service, saying that indie authors have struggled to find a “cost-effective and reliable solution.”

Amazon says translations are eligible to participate in other programs, such as KDP Select, and are included in the Kindle Unlimited subscription service.