I don't understand this. It's only six thousand words and it's the polishing that takes the time. How would it have taken weeks to do the initial draft?
And I don't have any skill in Russian, but I would say that his translation is not good, or at least was not thoughtfully made, based solely on the fact that he did not write the author's name in it.
> As it happens, I recently translated a short story by Kir Bulychev — a Soviet science-fiction icon virtually unknown in the West.
I for one enjoyed reading it! As for the article, it's on point. There will be fewer historians and translators, but I suspect those that stick around will be greatly amplified.
I gave a quick look and was surprised to see that the most of the first two paragraphs simply aren't there. I guess you've read something else!
As for machine translation: currently it isn't remotely ready to deal with literature by itself, but it could be handy to assist translators.