Reader perceptions and willingness to pay for AI-translated literary fiction

This study explores readers’ perceptions of AI-translated literature and their willingness to pay for it. To this end, an online survey was administered to 138 participants, most of whom hold postgraduate degrees, work in literature-related professions and read literary works regularly. It examined their views on AI’s capability to produce literary translations comparable to those of experienced human translators, their willingness to engage with AI-translated fiction, and their willingness to purchase AI-translated novels under three pricing conditions (the same price as, cheaper than and more expensive than human-translated novels). A substantial majority were skeptical about AI’s ability to match an experienced human translator, yet a plurality was willing to read an AI-translated novel. Even when AI-translated novels were significantly cheaper, nearly half of the respondents remained reluctant to purchase. Regression analysis showed that gender was the most consistent significant demographic predictor, with males more willing to purchase across all pricing conditions. The study offers timely insights for publishers, literary translators, AI developers and translation educators.