THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVOLUTION IN TRANSLATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OPPORTUNITIES AND ETHICAL CHALLENGES FOR THE UZBEK ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAIR

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into translation studies is reshaping the global language services industry, creating unprecedented opportunities while raising complex ethical and professional challenges. This article examines the impact of AI on translation, with a specific focus on the Uzbek-English language pair — a low-resource, typologically distinct language combination that exemplifies both the transformative potential and critical limitations of current AI translation technologies. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines an analysis of industry market data, a review of emerging translation technologies, and a qualitative evaluation of AI translation quality for Uzbek-English, the study investigates three key areas: (1) the state of the AI translation market and its growth trajectory, (2) technological innovations developed specifically for Turkic language translation, including Tilmoch.ai and domain-specific BERT models, and (3) the ethical and professional challenges posed by AI integration, including translator displacement, quality assurance, liability, and cultural erasure.