What They Did
The global language services industry was worth $52 billion in 2022, employing hundreds of thousands of translators and interpreters worldwide. Human translation was considered essential for nuanced, high-quality language work.
How LLMs Killed Them
LLMs can translate text at near-human quality for free. Per-word rates plummeted as clients shifted to AI-first workflows. Translation volumes remained steady but revenue dropped because the work was being done by machines instead of humans.
Timeline
- 2023: Industry revenue declined $2.3B (-4.5%) from $52.01B to $49.68B — the first decline of this scale.
- 2024: Individual translators reported 60-80% income declines. 75%+ of translators expect AI to adversely affect future income.
- Estimated 28,000 translator positions never created due to machine translation adoption (2010-2023 cumulative).
By the Numbers
- Revenue declined $2.3B (-4.5%) in one year
- Translators report 60-80% income declines
- 28,000 translator positions never created
- 75%+ of language service providers changing pricing models