Crunchyroll is investigating bad translations by AI

Anime streaming service Crunchyroll is aware that some of its content contains poor translations due to AI. The platform is looking into the matter and a way to fix it.

“We were made aware that AI-generated subtitles were employed by a third-party vendor, which is in violation of our agreement. We are investigating the matter and are working to rectify the error,” a Crunchyroll spokesperson told Engadget.

Since the release of Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show on July 1st, subscribers have complained that the subtitles contain many errors.

For example, a Bluesky user called Pixel published an image of the German-translated version of the series, where one of the lines began with “ChatGPT said:…”

“Beyond disappointed to find Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show’s subs on @crunchyroll.com are blatantly and openly ChatGPT. This is not acceptable. How can we be expected to pay for a service that clearly doesn't care about the quality of its products?” he says.

Other users have complained that the overall quality of translations for the series in question is sloppy, that the punctuation is incorrect, and that sentences are grammatically incorrect. Users on Reddit are saying this doesn’t only involve German translation, but Italian and English as well.

Because of the translation errors, some anime lovers are considering cancelling their Crunchyroll subscription.

In an interview with The Verge, Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini said he was focused on testing generative AI tools for adding subtitles and capturing speech to text.

However, he previously informed Forbes that AI will not be used for translation purposes. “We are not considering AI in the creative process, including our voice actors. We consider them to be creators because they are contributing to the story and plot with their voice,” Purini said.

He added that the company is looking at AI to improve content discoverability, recommendations, and personalization, but only as ways to improve the customer experience and not touching on the content itself.