Seven Seas acquired by Media Do

[geraineon]

This happened a week back I think, but in case you have not heard, Seven Seas has been acquired by Media Do. There has been concerns that this will mean AI translations but according to their statements, this will not happen (but their statement seems to emphasize Japanese works a lot, so who knows if this is going to change for CN novel translations):

From Media Do:

Following recent reports, we have received inquiries expressing concern that AI might be used to
translate Seven Seas manga and other works. The Company clarifies that there are absolutely no plans to
do so. Furthermore, the "MDTS" system developed by the Company is an AI assisted tool designed to
help Japanese translators manage their translated text when working on Japanese literature. It is not
intended for implementation in Seven Seas translation operations. All specific operational details will
remain compliant with the existing translation standards of Seven Seas.

[...]

Through the feedback we have received, we deeply understand the love and dedication fans have for
Seven Seas. It is truly regrettable that our previous announcement caused misunderstandings among
those who cherish Seven Seas publications. As stated above, the Company will act appropriately for the
fans and will not use AI in the translation operations of Seven Seas, so please rest assured.

Link to the Japanese statement: https://mediado.jp/info/15595/

Comments

[geraineon]

Personally, I'm just gonna wait and see. AFAIK, JP is very uh, optimistic, about genAI and many are still really optimistic about NFT even though the world has mostly moved on.

Hopefully they won't replace human translators when they think people aren't looking.

Though in one of the documents I found about their AI-translation (program? system? model?), it was framed as a support tool for translators. Unsure how it works, so if someone has better information, do share!