Exploring Machine Translation Use by Precarious Migrant Workers in Thailand

The growing use of machine translation (MT) among migrants highlights a crucial area for investigation. This article explores findings from focus groups with precarious migrant workers in Thailand to assess their use of MT and evaluate the impact of this technology on their employment opportunities, income, and job security. The study highlights the level of MT literacy within this migrant community, how they perceive MT’s effectiveness and limitations, and how these experiences are shaped by the unique challenges they face. In the absence of systematic institutional training, migrants acquired fundamental MT literacy through communal and self-directed learning but remained largely unaware of privacy concerns. A mismatch exists between participants' stated perception of MT usefulness and their actual employment of the tool to navigate daily life.