The Yandex team has introduced a major update to its proprietary translator: users can now enable a new mode designed for translating long and complex texts using large language models (LLM).
According to company representatives, the AI mode provides more accurate and natural translation while preserving the original style. For example, the film title "Me Before You" is translated as "До встречи с тобой" (Until We Meet), and the idiom "It is a truth universally acknowledged" is translated as "Все знают, что…" (Everyone knows that...), instead of the literal "Общепризнанной истиной является то, что…" (It is a universally acknowledged truth that...).
To assess the quality of the translation, Yandex involved expert linguists: according to their assessment, in 80% of cases, translations using large language models significantly outperform classical ones. Users can switch between the new and classic modes depending on the tasks.
The AI mode is available on the website and in the "Yandex Translate" application for major European languages. Translation takes a little longer because the model analyzes the context of the text more thoroughly.
As a reminder, the service supports over 100 languages, can translate texts, websites, images, and also recognizes voice. "Yandex Translate" is integrated into the "Yandex with Alice" and "Yandex Browser" applications, which allows it to be used in various scenarios.