Revolutionizing Arabic-English Translation: The Impact of AI Technologies in Subtitling

The advancement in technology today is incredibly rapid, leading to new services and tools that enable users to accomplish more work with better quality. It goes without saying that there is fierce competition in the field of AI, with the emergence of several competitors, including GPT and Gemini. However, research on the use of AI in translation, particularly in subtitling, is scarce. This project explores applying the Gemini and ChatGPT tools in generating Arabic-English subtitles at the postgraduate level, specifically at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. Several students will be asked to subtitle Arabic excerpts from selected audiovisual material using Gemini and ChatGPT. They will also be asked to reflect on the quality of the translation provided by the tools, highlighting any issues, difficulties, and advantages they encountered. The analysis will reveal how these tools could save significant time and effort, providing students with an acceptable version of the original dialogue that still requires editing. The results are anticipated to also show that the tools will demonstrate outstanding potential in recognizing the original dialects and translating them into English. Another important aspect is the tools’ interactivity, which allows for better translation outcomes by prompting the tools to amend their output after the user has provided the context of the original sentence. Finally, it is expected that the tools could be used to enhance our understanding of specific words and expressions by providing relevant details about their origins and use across different contexts.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)