Anime streaming giant Crunchyroll inadvertently confirmed its use of artificial intelligence for subtitle translation when German subtitles for a new series displayed "ChatGPT said:" before translated dialogue, sparking renewed criticism from subscribers who pay up to $16 monthly for the service.
The error appeared Tuesday in the debut episode of "Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show," marking the first definitive proof that Sony-owned Crunchyroll employs ChatGPT for translations despite previous denials about AI implementation.
The mistake occurred at the 19-minute mark of the series premiere, where German subtitles read "ChatGPT said: Wenn ich die Welt, von hier an weiter genießen kann," according to a screenshot posted by Bluesky user Pixel12. The reference to ChatGPT appeared only in German translations, not in English or other languages2.
Engadget independently verified the error remains in the episode3. English subtitles for the same series contained multiple translation mistakes and at one point credited work to "Translator's name," suggesting minimal human oversight4.
"This is not acceptable. How can we be expected to pay for a service that clearly doesn't care about the quality of its products?" Pixel wrote in the viral post23.
The revelation follows mounting criticism of Crunchyroll's subtitle quality. In 2023, the platform temporarily removed the premiere of "The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons" after subscribers complained about nonsensical translations with missing punctuation12.
Crunchyroll President Rahul Purini told The Verge in early 2024 that the company was "very focused on testing" AI tools for subtitling to accelerate release schedules12. However, company representatives had previously suggested they were not actively using AI for translations3.
The platform has also faced criticism for auto-generated closed captions on popular series including "One Piece" and "Solo Leveling," with fans documenting frequent errors from speech-to-text services2.
Crunchyroll dominates anime streaming outside Japan since Sony's acquisition, making its translation practices particularly influential for international audiences1. Subscribers pay between $8 and $16 monthly for access to over 30,000 episodes2.
Many fans said they would turn to unofficial fan translations, calling the AI-generated subtitles "unwatchable"1. The controversy highlights tensions between cost-cutting automation and quality expectations in specialized translation work.
Crunchyroll did not respond to requests for comment1.
