I am very grateful for volunteers who are subbing the shows that come out on Viki, but I honestly just keep wondering why the subtitles keep getting worse every year on Viki.
- They strip the cultural aspect of things
- Yes, you still need to capture the mood of the scene whilst translating.
- It’s definitely starting to feel like a Ntflix translation (which is the main reason why ppl don’t like watching Asian shows on Ntflix)
- Especially with historical dramas, they really don’t keep the flow with scene.
I’ve been using Viki since 2017, and I genuinely feel so sad looking at the newer translations that come out. Every year it gets worse; I really don’t want to move to another platform. 
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Maybe because the newer translations are made by AI and volunteers aren’t allowed to edit them anymore? Yes, Viki is treating its contributors and the public in this way. The funny thing is Viki knows it, but doesn’t care. @vikicommunity, are you still there? Can you give an explaination AT LEAST to the public? Thank you.
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Hello.
The viki volunteers are no longer translating into English that’s the main reason.
It WAS much better when the community members were involved from beginning to end. Something special and difficult to replicate has been lost for the last years and I’m afraid it will take its toll sooner or later.
Nothing else we can do from our side.
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as a segmenter, I felt very disheartened when I was working on projects since AI took over (now there are no new projects and that’s another thing) The quality of the subtitles left a bitter aftertaste. I’m only fluent in english. so, imagine the state of subtitlers who love their native language and come across such low quality, half baked, contextless AI subtiles. The english subtitles are so worse that they strip the joy and satisfaction of watching a good drama even if the plot, quality of the drama and acting is Top-tier. Really disappointed in Viki for ignoring their contributors. This feels wrong and frustrating to watch on many levels. from a capitalist perspective, it all seems like a minor problem. But for a community built on people and their valuable contributions, This feels like denying their existence all together. There is more than one way to implement technology alongside human intervention and interaction. I repeat, AI can do your work faster but it can never imitate the thought process and quality along with the cultural richness that A HUMAN can bring. and in the field where representing and bringing out the cultural richness and quality in the form of good subtitles, Viki is losing it’s prime purpose.
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The truth is that things are changing, and many of the tasks that volunteers used to do, from translating and segmenting to editing subtitles, are now being handled differently. As contributors, there isn’t much we can do about these decisions.
What we can say is that every subtitle created by volunteers came from real people who dedicated their free time, energy, and passion to sharing the dramas they loved with viewers around the world. We did it because we believed in the community and in bringing fans together, not because we expected anything in return.
If you miss the warmth, care, and personal touch that human translators bring, don’t hesitate to let Viki know. Community feedback is incredibly valuable, and hearing from viewers who appreciate volunteer-made subtitles can make a real difference.
At the end of the day, Viki has always been about connecting people through stories, and volunteers have proudly been part of that journey for many years. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way.
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We all agree that the translations are questionable. Viki seems to be competing for the lowest-quality translations (and timing) as long as they are speedier than other sites.
This is the FIRST TIME since I graduated from NSSA back in 2021 that I’ve had ZERO segmenting jobs.
I haven’t been granted a CM job in over 2 years. I am ignored. I feel Viki no longer needs or wants us around now that they no longer need us.
This is your 3/4 million contributions segmenter signing out.
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While I understand Viki trying to keep up with other streaming sites with fast subbing, my brain still can’t come up with a logical reason to give up free editing of segments and subtitles.
And no one from Viki’s side seems to care enough to actually explain anything.
What is the benefit of bad segmenting and wrong subtitles? Make it make sense.
Sure, subtitling isn’t the most expensive work out there, but one earns a lot more with it than badges and bunch of stickers at the end of the year. So I doubt the volunteers were too expensive for the company… or were they? 
First they restricted segmenting and English teams, so some of the shows already had bad translation before Viki stopped giving channels to volunteers all together. Now they won’t let any language edit the AI subs.
I was watching a Chinese show here yesterday and character obviously asked “Can I?”, but the translation said “Is it enough?”. And while I do understand some simpler sentences in Chines, I can’t understand most of it, so I decided to watch it elsewhere, because if even such simple sentences are translated incorrectly, then I can only imagine how wrong the more difficult conversations are. There are sites with much better subtitles out there.
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I had a similar experience. I did segmenting for some months and got the QC status. even though I had access to watch viki pass shows, I couldn’t because I was so busy but I didn’t want to give up on segmenting because I enjoyed doing it. For me, segmenting isn’t a way to gain pass but a good hobby and a chance to interact with talented community members. So, even-though I had pass to watch that series, I had to go and watch it elsewhere since the subtitles where kinda lame.
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You’re exactly correct. I stopped watching Asian Dramas on ■■■■■■■ and started with Rakuten Viki 4 or 5 years ago for that reason. With the AI translation you sometimes lose the connection or feeling of the conversation. The emotion, whether it’s anger, love, or sadness can be easily lost.
In addition, it seems that the AI translation often fails to include text messages on phones, notes, and signs.
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The subtitles can really make or break a drama. If the translations are too superficial, you lose the tension and message. I guess AI will take over everything. They have spent so much money on AI and they need to make a profit to justify the spending.
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We fed FOR FREE the AI with our knowledge, but it cannot get many things. I think it needs more FREE training, BUT they cannot allow it. Sometimes I feel Viki has got an enemy inside 
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I’m really disappointed to see my contributing and segmenting career end as soon as it started lol
I was really happy when I did segmenting. now there are 0 projects.
I still have a liiittlleee hope left. Idk I wanna wait and see if anything at all looks up for the contributing community.
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I think some staff are AI, they probably have noticeboard they have created that complain about us humans and the contributors
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