NTA restructures role: Translators will now ensure quality of AI work

As part of its overhaul, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has changed the role of translators, looking now for those who can review “AI-generated translations” of examination questions from English into Indian languages, identify linguistic, technical, scientific or contextual errors, suggest corrections, and certify the final translation.

The NTA’s Expression of Interest has mentioned that the role being offered is different from the conventional ‘translator’ role in earlier cycles. The NTA conducts a number of high-stakes competitive examinations, including NEET, JEE Mains, CUET, UGC-NET and others in 13 languages.

Under the restructuring process, the translation function will be performed in two parts — the bulk of the translation shall be performed by an air-gapped AI-based translation platform deployed on NTA’s premises; and the verification, certification and quality-assurance of the AI-produced translations shall be performed by a panel of empanelled human professionals.

The selected reviewer will also see only “individual items, presented one at a time, in a randomised order that bears no relationship to the order in which items appear in the final paper”. They (the reviewers) will also not be allowed to see the assembled paper, NTA said.

The agency is taking extra security measures after the NEET UG paper leak earlier this year, triggering outrage, protests and a CBI probe. Translators and question paper setters came under scrutiny during the NEET UG paper leak investigation.

The CBI investigation into the NEET UG paper leak found that one of the arrested subject experts, Manisha Mandhare, was not only involved in setting the question paper but also translating it.