What motor vehicles and translation machines have in common - a first step towards a translation automation taxonomy

In professional translation and in society in general, translation is increasingly automated. However, in Translation Studies, we lack an updated taxonomy of translation automation (TA) to understand the evolving and dynamic relationship between humans and digital technologies. Therefore, taking a first step towards a new taxonomy of TA, this paper adapts the Society of Automotive Engineers' taxonomy of six levels of driving automation, ranging from no automation to fully automated driverless cars, to the field of translation. The six levels of the TA taxonomy basically describe whether the translator and/or the system translates by means of source-text analysis and target-text production and checks for and corrects errors and inadequacies; whether the translator or the system responds to system failures; and whether the performance of the system is limited to a certain domain. Adapting the taxonomy was a complex endeavor, and constructive criticism from stakeholders interested in TA would be welcome.