Low-level work is absolutely a thing. For example, I have used automatic translation tools to translate documentation and comments in source code. The results aren't perfect, but they are instant and much better than nothing. The ground truth of the source code is right there as well, so potential errors aren't a significant concern. Having to send translation requests over to an actual human translator every time would have been slow, expensive, and disruptive for my workflow.
Then there is just simple stuff like ordering a product off a Chinese or Japanese site without an English translation. Increasingly they are just machine translating their product descriptions themselves, but it wouldn't be economical to have a human do that for thousands of SKUs.
> I have used automatic translation tools to translate documentation and comments in source code
No one has personally hired professional translators to do this, ever. Before automatic translation happened, there were volunteers. Only corporations had the resources to professionally translate documentation.
And if you are a corporation, you cannot rely on automatic translation for these tasks anyway.
Anyway, your examples illustrate situations where we went from no translation or crappy translation, to reasonably useful. That's just not what translators and interpreters do.
Then there is just simple stuff like ordering a product off a Chinese or Japanese site without an English translation. Increasingly they are just machine translating their product descriptions themselves, but it wouldn't be economical to have a human do that for thousands of SKUs.