{"id":13315,"date":"2023-09-20T17:50:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=13315"},"modified":"2023-09-20T17:50:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:50:40","slug":"easytranslate-boss-on-adapting-to-change-cointelegraph-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/?p=13315","title":{"rendered":"EasyTranslate boss on adapting to change \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"crypto\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script>\n<p>The launch of generative AI products over the past nine months has the world talking about how it will change the future. Many are frightened. Others are excited about the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>A report last month from Next Move Strategy Consulting predicts the AI industry will grow 20x in the next seven years, creating a $2 trillion business, up from its current value of $100 billion. It might sound like wild hype, but other analysts from McKinsey, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock all map out a similar trajectory. AI is here to stay, and a lot of human lives will be upended. But it\u2019s also the chance of a lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>Frederik Pedersen, the co-founder of Danish AI company EasyTranslate and son of one of Denmark\u2019s most famous men, is approaching the future head-on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been saying for a long time that translation is dead and AI has killed the industry as we know it, but that hasn\u2019t gone down particularly well with my competitors. Now, however, those same people are listening and are realising that they may be too late if they want to transform their business.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-son-of-danish-politician-klaus-riskaer-pedersen\">Son of Danish politician Klaus Risk\u00e6r Pedersen<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s not easy to be the child of a powerful person, as has been recently and brilliantly illustrated by the TV series <em>Succession. <\/em>If there\u2019s a Logan Roy in the family, it\u2019s difficult for the child to be their own person.<\/p>\n<p>Some crash and burn; some, such as singers Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, try to shock their parents by being outlandish and independent. It\u2019s rarely a good look.<\/p>\n<p>Others, however, do it in smarter ways and emerge from that parental shadow by adopting different mechanisms to build their own reputation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Pederson, now 35, it was technology that enabled him to do so. First, with translation software, and now, generative AI has overtaken it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pederson knows how to pivot. (Supplied)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>His dad, Klaus Risk\u00e6r Pedersen, is a controversial Danish political party leader, entrepreneur, businessman and author. Everybody in Denmark knows his name.<\/p>\n<p>His chequered career includes being a member of the European Parliament for the Liberal Party, writing books, developing, building and selling around 15 companies over three decades. He set up his own political party in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>But there have been controversies. He has several convictions for fraud and has spent different spells in jail, as well as splitting Danish public opinion and having the social life that goes with such apparent conviviality.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At first, (Frederik) Pedersen suffered. In and out of schools, he tried to find a way of acceptance and struggled. He didn\u2019t make it to university, but he did know about technology and became interested in its power and consequently found a way to plow his own furrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt took me some time to find a direction, but slowly I realized that the world was all about communication. I knew I was from a privileged family, but educators always seemed to have a lack of empathy and communication when I was a child. I was made to feel different, and it was a difficult place to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I came through it, and those life lessons set me up for all the changes that life throws at you. So I set up a translation company, and now I\u2019m pivoting the company into generative AI because of the huge opportunity it offers humanity, not least the same elements of communication,\u201d says Pedersen.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Early access to OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT<\/h2>\n<p>The AI light started to dawn on him back in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>That year, Pedersen applied to the Danish Innovation Fund for a 65,000 euro grant to create a content generator engine that would enable him to create a new form of translation:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI realized that the biggest issue in e-commerce when it came to languages was not translation in itself, but creating localized content for retailers\u2019 different products that customers could relate to,\u201d he explains, adding the company spent the money to train \u201cneural networks to create these product descriptions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also read: <em>AI Eye \u2014 Real uses for AI in crypto, Google\u2019s GPT-4 rival, AI edge for bad employees<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A neural network is a type of machine learning process called deep learning that uses interconnected nodes or neurons in a layered structure that resembles the human brain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe branded it content-as-a-service and couldn\u2019t believe we were one of the first companies to do it,\u201d he says, though it ended up proving the old adage that being early is the same as being wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUltimately we were ahead of the technology and while our technology could build sentences, it just wasn\u2019t good enough for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This first effort was not wasted time and money, however, as it meant the company was able to hit the ground running when large language models were released publicly. EasyTranslate obtained early access to ChatGPT because it already had an account with OpenAI and was able to adopt and execute the technology instantly.<\/p>\n<p>From that point, EasyTranslate pivoted to a generative AI content future based on Pedersen\u2019s thesis that traditional translation was indeed \u201cdead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Are we &#8220;sunsetting&#8221; translation?<br \/>And will human copywriters go extinct?<\/p>\n<p>Read our take on the role of humans in this new era and check out this thought-provoking article about #translation and #AI\ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffdhttps:\/\/t.co\/8rOYQBKriu<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 EasyTranslate (@EasyTranslate) June 25, 2023<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Translation meets technology<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It was not the first change in direction for Pedersen\u2019s company. Formed in 2010 without venture capital, the translation service grew quickly.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, it went after bigger fish and started offering interpretation services to the Danish government after realizing there was an opportunity with the launch of Apple\u2019s FaceTime. According to Pedersen, interpreters were super-expensive, inefficient and slow, and travel for in-person events wasn\u2019t exactly \u201cclimate change-friendly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pedersen created a video interpretation app that streamlined costs and increased efficiency by offering a marketplace and matching service for interpreters as well as remote interpreter services.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Danish municipalities signed up for the service, including the Danish Ministry of Justice, recognizing that bringing an interpreter to a court was a very expensive business, especially due to the often last-minute nature of such needs.<\/p>\n<p>Read also<\/p>\n<p>                            Features<\/p>\n<p>How to resurrect the \u2018Metaverse dream\u2019 in 2023<\/p>\n<p>                            Features<\/p>\n<p>The legal dangers of getting involved with DAOs<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Danish operation a success, but the patient died<\/h2>\n<p>At its height, the company was running 1,000 interpretation meetings a day, and between 2017 and 2019, it was responsible for more than 70% of the Danish government\u2019s interpretation business.<\/p>\n<p>However, Pedersen says the Danish government had never outsourced such business, and the relationship turned sour.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pedersen believes that AI and humans can work together in harmony. (Supplied)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a very mutual and fruitful relationship for a long time, but we realized that working with governments was more difficult than we imagined. It was like the cliche of a heavy tanker not being able to turn around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgain, it was the first learning curve for me. Yes, our data processing wasn\u2019t as good as it could have been and working with antiquated systems and reasoning was very difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEventually, the Danish government decided they didn\u2019t want to carry on with our relationship. It was hard at the time, but I still believe we succeeded, and we learned a lot,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s just say, the operation was a success, but the patient died. There was also a lot of opposition from the strong Danish trade unions who thought we were putting people out of jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it was not about putting people out of jobs, it was working with technology in the same way we work with AI now. Our interpreters who decided to join our community were extremely happy with our software. They said it was like having a PA that coordinated their calendar and ensured them productive days with the highest possible earnings \u2014 they managed to increase those earnings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If your book is in the ChatGPT training data, did they steal it? If you make something with Midjourney, do you own it? Old questions and new arguments.https:\/\/t.co\/aA2aZp1hpd<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Benedict Evans (@benedictevans) September 1, 2023<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Impact of AI on jobs<\/h2>\n<p>The impact of AI technology on employment is a source of great anxiety for many, with some predicting entire industries will be wiped out, while others suggest jobs will change and evolve rather than disappear.<\/p>\n<p>A recent study by the International Labour Organization found that women will be disproportionately affected by automation, with around 7.8% of jobs held by women in high-income countries (or 21 million) likely to be automated, but only 2.9% of jobs held by men (9 million).<\/p>\n<p>Translation is a highly gendered industry too, with women accounting for around 67% of translators.<\/p>\n<p>Pedersen\u2019s thinking about the essential human element in technology \u2014 be that content generation or generative AI \u2014 is now central to EasyTranslate\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also read: <em>AI Eye \u2014 Get better results being nice to ChatGPT, AI fake child porn debate, Amazon\u2019s AI reviews<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He believes that the combination of humans and AI is more powerful than just letting the AI do everything, using the example of a hard-working high school student who was angry at classmates for using AI to cheat.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of cheating herself, she asked ChapGPT to mark her already-written essay. It sorted out the grammar and typos, and it gave her extra resources and links to improve her work beyond that of the cheater.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn business, everybody is looking for the magic of balance in the marketplace, that sweet spot where pricing, innovation and technology are aligned. We are also doing that when it comes to AI and humans; we want that magic balance there as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Humans still required in the loop<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>He cites \u201chumans in the loop\u201d as the way forward for humans and machines. Generative AI can do the heavy lifting, and humans can finish and finesse the job. It creates content in any language generated by AI but enhanced by humans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are others in business, such as Reuters, who also profess the \u2018humans in the loop\u2019 phrase. Again, I\u2019ve been saying for a long time that this is the way forward to make both technology and humans better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy harnessing the power of both and increasing machine learning in the process, I believe that the current dominance of LLMs will be replaced by small language models that can be tailored exactly for the customer \u2014 open source generative AI \u2014 that will be the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re planning for and how the whole AI sector will play out. Those companies that are prepared for that will prosper; those who aren\u2019t will fail,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Since Pedersen\u2019s pivot to AI at the end of 2022, there has been increased investor interest in EasyTranslate, and the company raised 2.75 million euros earlier this year<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think that we\u2019ve been ahead of our time, and that thinking has led us to embrace AI and take us to the next level. AI itself is just the mirror of what humanity has already created; AI is really the technological history of human knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s obvious that the two are perfectly compatible, that magic balance, so as generative AI evolves, so will those humans in the loop. Nobody with a good and adaptive brain will lose their job; their jobs and roles will be better and more creative,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n<p>His father should be proud.<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe<\/p>\n<p>The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a<br \/>\n        week.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"author__name\">Monty Munford<\/h2>\n<p>Monty Munford writes regularly for the BBC, The Economist and City AM and has been a tech columnist for Forbes and The Telegraph. He also runs a growth and visibility consultancy and has appeared at more than 200 events and conferences, interviewing figures such as Tim Draper, the late John McAfee, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Steve Wozniak, Kim Kardashian, Guns N\u2019 Roses and many others.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFollow the author \t\t\t\t\t\t\t@montymunford<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\namzn_assoc_placement = \"adunit0\";\r\namzn_assoc_tracking_id = \"totafreearti-20\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_mode = \"search\";\r\namzn_assoc_ad_type = \"smart\";\r\namzn_assoc_marketplace = \"amazon\";\r\namzn_assoc_region = \"US\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = \"bitcoin\";\r\namzn_assoc_default_category = \"All\";\r\namzn_assoc_search_bar = \"false\";\r\namzn_assoc_title = \"\";\r\namzn_assoc_rows =\"1\";\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"\/\/z-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/onejs?MarketPlace=US\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/ai-killed-translation-industry-easytranslate-boss-change-human-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The launch of generative AI products over the past nine months has the world talking about how it will change the future. Many are frightened. Others are excited about the opportunity. A report last month from Next Move Strategy Consulting predicts the AI industry will grow 20x in the next seven years, creating a $2 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bitcoin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13317,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13315\/revisions\/13317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptoheretostay.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}