HarperCollins to use AI to translate romance novels under the Harlequin and Azur series

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• HarperCollins France to test AI for translating romance novels from 2026
• AI translations will be reviewed and finalized by freelancers before publication
• French translator groups oppose AI, urging support for human-created texts

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AI is now entering the world of book translation in a big way, and this time it’s romance novels in France that are getting the algorithm treatment.

HarperCollins France, the company that publishes the popular Harlequin and Azur romance paperback collections, has confirmed that it will begin testing AI tools to translate these books from English to French starting in 2026. According to report by 404media, the change comes after romance novel sales in France started declining, making it harder for the publisher to keep translating and releasing a large number of books at the same low price.

The story first appeared in December when French media shared reports about the company contacting translators. The update was later reported in English by Publisher’s Weekly, which confirmed the shift after seeing the statements released in France.

HarperCollins France has partnered with Fluent Planet, a third-party translation company that uses AI as part of its process. Fluent Planet works near the memory chip factories of Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea. The translation process will now work in stages. First, the text of the romance books will go through an AI translation system. After AI generates the French version, freelancers will check the translated text, correct errors, improve sentences, and finalise the books before they are printed and sold. This means that instead of a full team of contract translators working on each book, the work will now be reviewed by freelancers, while AI handles a large part of the translation to reduce costs.

HarperCollins France has clarified that it is not using AI alone. The company told Publisher’s Weekly, “no Harlequin collection has been translated solely using machine translation generated by artificial intelligence.” The publisher explained that AI is being tested because the company wants to keep releasing more books without increasing prices. One part of the official statement said, “We want to continue offering readers as many publications as possible at the current very low retail price, which is €4.99 for the Azur series, for example.” This shows the company wants to maintain the same low selling price so readers continue to buy affordable romance novels, even though the cost of translation has gone up.

Fluent Planet has also spoken about its own translation process. The company says its translators studied at top translation universities or have decades of experience. These human translators are assisted by an AI agent called BrIAn, which helps them with parts of the translation. Fluent Planet claims that BrIAn produces better translations than standard AI systems. It says the AI tries to understand the author’s tone and emotions to keep the writing style intact. However, even with these claims, translator groups in France are not convinced that AI can replace the delicate work humans do.

Soon after the announcement, a joint statement was released by the French Association of Literary Translators (ATFL) and a collective of translators called En Chair et en Os (In Flesh and Bone). They confirmed that HarperCollins France has been contacting translators to tell them they are being replaced by machines in 2026, or that their pay is being reduced. The collective called on writers, publishing workers, and readers to reject AI translations. They begged people to “reaffirm our unconditional commitment to human texts, created by human beings, in dignified working conditions.” They also released a long manifesto warning that AI is trained on human work without permission, reduces skilled jobs, and pushes the world toward a future that feels less emotional and more standardised. The manifesto itself was translated from French to English by the collective, to prove that humans can still translate their own words better than any machine.

Romance author Caroline Lee, in a comment to 404 Media, also expressed concern from the author community. She said AI-generated books may reduce costs but will cut out cover artists, editors, and translators who have worked closely with authors for years. She added that authors fear AI-made books flooding the market could hurt their careers too.