Friends at the Bengbu University School of Translation invited me to deliver a guest lecture to their faculty and student body on uses of AI for cultural translation.

AI for Slogan Translation

Some time ago, I was asked to translate the slogan for the China Agricultural University International Convention Center: 我们一直在用心！ A word-for-word translation of this phrase might be “We always work with heart!” But this word-for-word translation will not suffice. The project manager desired a more idiomatic translation that rhymed.

Instead of using AI to translate directly, I used AI as a brainstorming assistant. First, I described the emotions conveyed by the Chinese expression: dedication, hard work, heart, and warmth. I then prompted GPT-4 to brainstorm slogans that express these emotions:

• Integrity First
• Achieve Together
• Commit. Succeed.
• Honor. Commit. Succeed.
• Dream & Do

The project manager desired slogans that rhymed, so I prompted GPT-4 to give me rhyming slogans:

• Trust and strive, succeed and thrive
• Commitment and honesty lead to victory
• Dedication and integrity for common prosperity

These slogans were decent, but the project manager wanted the word “heart.” I prompted GPT-4 to generate slogans with the word “heart.”

• Put your heart into it
• Lead with heart

I really liked “Lead with heart” but the client wanted something with parallel structure. GPT-4 helped out here:

• Work smart, work with heart

Almost there! The project manager wanted parallel structure and symmetrical syllables. Here, GPT-4 did pretty well:

• Stand apart, work with heart
• Do your part, work with heart

I combined my favorite responses of GPT-4 to create the slogan I like best: Stand Apart, Lead with Heart.

AI for Poetry Translation