CHALLENGES AND NUANCES IN AI TRANSLATION FROM UZBEK TO ENGLISH. A CASE STUDY OF “THE UZBEK CHARACTER” BY SHUKUR KHOLMIRZAYEV

Abstract

This article examines the main challenges and nuances faced by artificial intelligence in translating Uzbek literary texts into English. Focusing on Shukur Kholmirzaev’s short story “The Uzbek character”, the study analyzes how linguistic structure, cultural context, and stylistic features affect the quality of AI-generated translations. Using a qualitative analytical method, selected passages from the original Uzbek text are compared with English translations produced or supported by machine translation systems. The findings show that AI tools struggle particularly with Uzbek’s agglutinative morphology, flexible word order, and culturally specific expressions. As a result, important meanings, emotional depth, and cultural references are often simplified or lost. The study concludes that while AI translation technologies are useful for preliminary translation, effective literary translation from Uzbek into English still requires human involvement to ensure linguistic accuracy and cultural authenticity.