Harnessing artificial intelligence for screenplay translation: A practice-based study on English-to-Korean screenplay adaptation.

This article investigates the use of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically OpenAI’s ChatGPT (a large language model, LLM), as a practical and cost-effective tool for translating screenplays from English into Korean. Focusing on the feature-length screenplay *Into Dust*, the study evaluates ChatGPT’s ability to preserve narrative fidelity, tone, character voice, and cultural nuance essential to screenwriting. While ChatGPT demonstrated strengths in translating visual descriptions, formatting, and some dialogue with emotional accuracy, it struggled with subtleties such as metaphor, subtext, cultural references, and character development, leading to occasional mistranslations that affected narrative coherence. The research concludes that AI-driven translation can serve as a useful intermediary draft for independent screenwriters lacking access to professional translators, but human revision remains necessary to ensure cultural and emotional authenticity. The study highlights the potential for hybrid human-AI workflows in transcultural screenwriting while acknowledging current technological and ethical limitations.