Translating Resilience: A Study of ChatGPT and Google Translate on Palestinian Idioms from the Gaza Conflict 2023-2025

Abstract

This study is primarily designed to evaluate and compare ChatGPT and Google Translate performance in translating Palestinian idioms used during the Gaza 2024 war. It also aims to compare the extent to which accuracy, context sensitivity and adaptability of the two translation tools can maintain cultural and contextual aspects of the idioms which can be challenging for machine translation tools. The researcher uses a qualitative research design and content analysis to examine the translation of 50 idioms selected from Al-Jazeera Mubashir interviews. The idioms were first categorized into socio-religious and social, and further subcategorized based on their context. Depending on their reflection of the source meaning, the translations were categorized as accurate, semi-accurate, or inaccurate. The study results demonstrate that ChatGPT significantly outperformed Google Translate, delivering 70% accurate translations compared to 48%. However, both ChatGPT and Google Translate did not accurately translate idioms containing implicit cultural and contextual meanings. ChatGPT’s adaptability is a standout feature which allows users to refine semi-accurate and inaccurate translations through explanation prompts. On the contrary, Google Translate lack of this feature and its static translation limit its ability to accept immediate user feedback and refine translation output. Despite the advancement of the two tools in general and ChatGPT outperformance in particular, human intervention for post-editing purposes remains necessary to ensure translation accuracy. The study puts forward recommendations to integrate ChatGPT into academic and professional translation practices and make optimal use of its adaptability as an interactive feature to improve semi-accurate or inaccurate translations. AI developers can enrich training datasets with idiomatic expressions and propose adaptation mechanisms to promote ChatGPT cultural awareness. Despite the significant progress AI has achieved in translation, human expertise and intervention remain irreplaceable.