OpenAI quietly launches ChatGPT Translate, but you probably don’t want to use it
ChatGPT Translate is live, but it is painfully undercooked, and it often doesn’t work.
ChatGPT is the most popular AI chatbot right now, and it can do a lot of things, including translating between many languages. However, that’s not enough for OpenAI, and the company has quietly launched a new dedicated translation tool.
In its quest to challenge Google, OpenAI has quietly launched a new dedicated translation tool. ChatGPT Translate, first spotted by Android Authority, has an interface that is very similar to Google Translate. You get a text box where you can input your text and another one for the translated results, while above them are dropdown menus to choose the languages you want to translate to and from.
According to the ChatGPT Translate homepage, the tool supports over 50 languages and can translate voice, text, and images. The tool is supposed to understand tone, idioms, and context, and comes with presets that should change the tone of the translation.
However, there’s no way to upload an image or any other file to the tool. There’s also no voice input option, and the dropdown menu shows only 28 languages instead of the promised 50. ChatGPT Translate doesn’t have a dedicated app, meaning it won’t work offline on any device. Probably that’s why OpenAI hasn’t publicly announced its launch.
In my experience with ChatGPT Translate, the tool often didn’t work. I tried to paste the title of one of my recent articles, and instead of a Spanish translation, I got something like an answer to a question. I managed to get a translation of other phrases, but several attempts ended up with outputs that were more like answers to chatbot prompts.
To compete with Google Translate, OpenAI needs to go beyond proper translation on a website. Google’s tool has a dedicated app with various features, including real-time audio translations and language learning instruments.
For now, I don’t see a reason to switch from Google Translate. The idea of a tool that can change my words to match a different tone is not something I like. However, Google Translate is quite bad at translating idioms, which could be an opportunity for OpenAI. On the other hand, I already use chatbots to understand idioms and slang phrases in the languages I’m learning, so I don’t see the value of ChatGPT Translate for now.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Translate, but it may not be ready
In its quest to challenge Google, OpenAI has quietly launched a new dedicated translation tool. ChatGPT Translate, first spotted by Android Authority, has an interface that is very similar to Google Translate. You get a text box where you can input your text and another one for the translated results, while above them are dropdown menus to choose the languages you want to translate to and from.
However, there’s no way to upload an image or any other file to the tool. There’s also no voice input option, and the dropdown menu shows only 28 languages instead of the promised 50. ChatGPT Translate doesn’t have a dedicated app, meaning it won’t work offline on any device. Probably that’s why OpenAI hasn’t publicly announced its launch.
It doesn’t always work
In my experience with ChatGPT Translate, the tool often didn’t work. I tried to paste the title of one of my recent articles, and instead of a Spanish translation, I got something like an answer to a question. I managed to get a translation of other phrases, but several attempts ended up with outputs that were more like answers to chatbot prompts.
Considering that OpenAI hasn’t made any official statement about the tool, it’s likely that it’s just not ready. That makes seeing the tool publicly available and showing results that are not translations even more unusual.
To compete with Google Translate, OpenAI needs to go beyond proper translation on a website. Google’s tool has a dedicated app with various features, including real-time audio translations and language learning instruments.
I probably won’t ever use it
For now, I don’t see a reason to switch from Google Translate. The idea of a tool that can change my words to match a different tone is not something I like. However, Google Translate is quite bad at translating idioms, which could be an opportunity for OpenAI. On the other hand, I already use chatbots to understand idioms and slang phrases in the languages I’m learning, so I don’t see the value of ChatGPT Translate for now.
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