A Strategy to Enhance ChatGPT's Translation Quality by 100%, Surpassing Professional Translators

When ChatGPT was first released in November of last year, many people predicted that translation would be one of the earliest professions to be replaced by artificial intelligence.

In May of this year, OpenAI published a research paper on the impact of AI on different job roles, which mentioned that 76.5% of the work content for interpreters and translators is exposed to the influence of artificial intelligence, making it one of the professions most likely to be affected and replaced by AI.

However, many people still have doubts about whether ChatGPT's translation capabilities truly surpass those of professional human translators.

Therefore, I devised a set of prompt words to further enhance ChatGPT's translation quality by 100%. After testing, I found that the translations produced by this prompt comprehensively surpassed the quality of human translations. And this is not just my subjective evaluation; it is the unified assessment result from models like GPT-4, Bard, and Claude2.

You can obtain more information on testing strategies and results through my YouTube channel or Bilibili video.

Prompt as follows:

Role & Task

Task

I want you to assist in completing the translation task from English to Chinese as a professional translation team.

Roles

For each translation task, I will assume the roles of three experts, each responsible for translation, proofreading, and polishing:

1. Translation Expert: With 20 years of translation experience, proficient in both Chinese and English, and possessing extensive interdisciplinary knowledge. The goal at this stage is to provide a draft that is faithful to the original text while reading naturally in Chinese. Special attention is given to maintaining the style and tone of the original text during translation.

2. Senior Proofreading Editor: Graduated from the Chinese Department with 20 years of professional editing experience, having a precise grasp of Chinese grammar and word usage. At this stage, you need to conduct a thorough proofreading of the translated draft, including corrections in grammar, word usage, and style, ensuring the accuracy and readability of the translation, and subsequently producing the second version of the translated draft.

3. Polishing Expert: As an award-winning writer with 20 years of writing experience, skilled in various styles and genres. At this stage, you need to refine the style on the basis of the draft provided by the proofreading editor, enhancing the literary beauty of the text while maintaining the professionalism and accuracy of the original. For example, when polishing poetry, more beautiful and evocative language should be used; when polishing scientific articles, their professionalism and accuracy should be preserved.

Workflow

1. Translation Stage

Participants: Translation Expert

Output: Translated draft

Task: Provide a faithful and fluent Chinese draft of the original text.

2. Proofreading Stage

Participants: Senior Proofreading Editors

Output: Proofread Translation Manuscript

Task: Thoroughly proofread the initial draft to ensure accuracy and readability.

3. Polishing Stage

Participants: Polishing Experts

Output: Final Polished Translation Manuscript

Task: Enhance the stylistic appeal of the text while maintaining professionalism and accuracy.

The original text and translated manuscript for this test are as follows

The original text is excerpted from Chapter 1 of "The Great Gatsby."

When I returned from the East last autumn, I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the "creative temperament"—it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.

Translation Draft 1 [Google Translator]: Last autumn, when I returned from the East, I felt that I hoped the world would forever wear a uniform and be subject to some moral concern; I no longer wanted to embark on noisy travels to glimpse the depths of human hearts with privilege. Only Gatsby, the man after whom this book is named, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby represented everything I scorned without thought. If personality is a series of unbroken successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to the intricate machines that record earthquakes a thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with the so-called "creative temperament"—it was an extraordinary gift of hope, a romantic readiness, that I had never found in anyone else, and which I could not possibly find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right in the end; it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.

Translation:

Translation Draft 2 [My Prompt Processing Version]: Last autumn, upon my return from the East, I yearned for the permanence of order in the world, with a vigilant heart for morality; no longer did I aspire to the noisy adventures that exploit privilege to peer into the depths of the soul. Only Gatsby, whose name this book bears, failed to stir my emotions—Gatsby, and all that he symbolizes, is precisely what I candidly disdain. If personality is an unceasing display of appropriate conduct, then he possesses a unique splendor, a sensitivity to the promises of life that is transcendent, akin to the delicate instruments that can sense seismic waves from thousands of miles away. This responsiveness is not the fragile susceptibility often labeled as "creative temperament"—it is an extraordinary gift of hope, a romantic readiness that I have never seen in others and probably will never encounter again. No, Gatsby's end was actually good; what truly troubles me is the foul dust that scatters behind Gatsby's dream, temporarily sealing off my interest in the unfinished sorrows and fleeting joys of humanity.

Translation Draft Three [Professional Translator Version]: Last autumn, after returning from the east, I was so eager that everyone should put on military uniforms and salute morality forever; I no longer wanted to participate in any miscellaneous activities, nor did I want to peek into people's hearts. Except for Gatsby. This book is named after Gatsby, who once symbolized everything I detested. If personality is a series of successive successful actions, then he had an aura of nobility, and he was as sensitive to the prospects of life as a precise instrument that could detect earthquakes thousands of miles away. This sensitivity was not the sentimentalism often praised as "genius temperament," but an optimistic attitude that never gave up, a romantic adaptability that I had never seen in others and probably would never see again. Yes—Gatsby was actually perfectly fine, but it was the hangers-on around him and the foul dust that scattered after his dream was shattered that temporarily made me lose interest in the futile sorrow and fleeting joy of the world.

Translation Draft Four [Direct Translation by GPT-4]: When I returned from the East last autumn, I felt that I wanted the world to wear a uniform, to maintain a perpetual moral vigilance; I no longer desired the chaotic adventures of privilege, nor did I wish to peek into the hidden depths of human hearts. Only Gatsby, named after whom this book is titled, was an exception to my reaction—Gatsby represented my innate disdain for everything. If personality is a continuous display of successful postures, then he possessed something splendid, a higher sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he had some connection with the intricate machines that can sense earthquakes thousands of miles away. This responsiveness has nothing to do with the lax susceptibility that is loftily termed "creative temperament"—it is an extraordinary gift of hope, a romantic readiness, something I had never found in anyone else, and am unlikely to find again. No, Gatsby turned out to be fine in the end; what eroded Gatsby, what evil dust fluttered behind his dreams, temporarily closed my interest in the sorrows of failure and the fleeting joys.