Rethinking Fundamental Issues of Translation: Reflections on the Challenges Posed by AI Technology

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies has exerted a profound impact on the field of translation, prompting widespread attention and in-depth discussion across both society and academia. Anchored in the challenges posed by AI, this paper revisits the fundamental nature of translation by re-examining fIve essential questions:“What is translation?” “To translate or not to translate?” “What to translate?” “Who translates?”, and “How to translate?” It argues that in the age of advanced AI technologies, translation has gone far beyond the traditional notion of semiotic transformation and has increasingly become a complex system involving multiple interrelated factors. In response to the challenges of AI, the academic community is called upon to reconsider the fundamental issues and multidimensional nature of translation with a broader historical and temporal perspective, and to explore the evolving role of the translator and the diverse possibilities of translation in the age of technological empowerment.