We Prompted ChatGPT to be a Translation Manager
                     We Prompted ChatGPT to be a Translation 
Manager
OpenAI recently unveiled the AI conversation interface ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a large language 
model using GPT-3.5 technology and has been trained on a massive amount of data — 
including, apparently, manual finetuning and training. ChatGPT generates human-like text in 
response to a given prompt. The launch set the AI world on fire and OpenAI netted a million 
new users within days.
After Slator tested the waters by asking ChatGPT questions about the language industry, we 
took it a few steps forward by producing a video with ChatGPT, Synthesia, and Descript.
First, we asked ChatGPT to answer questions as if they were a translation manager on a 
podcast. Here are the unedited results.
ChatGPT: Thank you for having me on your podcast. It’s always a pleasure to be a guest and to 
have the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with others. Do you have any specific 
topics or questions that you would like to discuss during our time together? I am here to help in 
any way I can.
Slator: Yes, please pretend to be a Translation Manager at a large e-commerce firm. In two 
sentences, what’s your job day-to-day?
ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager at a large eCommerce firm, my job is to oversee the 
translation of our company’s website, marketing materials, and other content into different 
languages. This involves coordinating with in-house translators and external translation 
agencies, ensuring that translations are accurate and consistent, and managing our translation 
budget. On a day-to-day basis, I might be working on translation projects, reviewing and editing
translations, or communicating with other members of the team and our external partners to 
ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Slator: Ok, that’s interesting. What’s the single biggest challenge for you in your job?
ChatGPT: One of the biggest challenges in my job is ensuring that the translations we produce 
are accurate and of high quality. This can be difficult for a number of reasons. For example, 
different languages have different grammatical structures and conventions, which can make it 
challenging to accurately convey the meaning of the original text. Additionally, there can be 
cultural differences between languages that can affect how a translation is perceived by 
speakers of that language. Ensuring that our translations are accurate and of high quality 
requires careful attention to detail, a deep understanding of the languages we are working 
with, and a willingness to seek out additional resources and expertise when needed.
Slator: Do you have team members that can help you? 
ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager, I likely have a team of in-house translators and external 
translation agencies that I work with to produce translations for our company. Working with a 
team can be beneficial because it allows us to divide the workload and leverage the different 
strengths and expertise of each team member. For example, I might have team members who 
are fluent in multiple languages and have experience translating different types of content, such
as marketing materials or technical documents. By working together, we can ensure that our 
translations are accurate and of high quality, while also meeting deadlines and staying within 
our budget.
Slator: Is there a language combination you think is particularly difficult to find qualified 
linguists for?
ChatGPT: There are many language combinations that can be difficult to find qualified linguists 
for, depending on the specific languages involved and the type of content that needs to be 
translated.
Slator: How do you use machine translation?
ChatGPT: As a Translation Manager, I might use machine translation in a number of different 
ways. For example, I might use machine translation to quickly produce a rough translation of a 
text that can then be reviewed and edited by a human translator. I might also use machine 
translation to help identify potential translation errors or inconsistencies or to quickly translate 
a large amount of text that would be time-consuming or difficult for a human translator to 
handle. Overall, the use of machine translation can help to streamline the translation process 
and make it more efficient, while still ensuring that the final translation is accurate and of high 
quality.
Slator: To wrap up here, how do you think your job will change over the next five years?
ChatGPT: I expect that the use of machine translation and other technology-assisted translation 
tools will continue to grow and become more sophisticated, which could change the way that 
we approach translation projects. Overall, I expect that my job will continue to evolve and 
change over time, and I will need to adapt and stay up-to-date in order to remain effective in 
my role.
Slator: Thanks a lot for joining today. Goodbye!
ChatGPT: You’re welcome. It was a pleasure to be a guest on your podcast. Goodbye!
With the script ready we then used Synthesia, an AI video generation platform, to turn the text 
into a video. All you had to do was copy the text generated by ChatGPT and paste it into a new 
video in the Synthesia app. No downloading or uploading is needed. Once an AI avatar was 
selected, the video was processed and then downloaded.
For an extra step, we moved onto the audio and video editing platform, Descript, to customize 
the video with a background and captions. The final product was exported and uploaded to 
YouTube. 
While this final result may not fool everyone, this combination of AI tools takes ChatGPT one 
step further to being able to impersonate a human.