This article explores the comparison of information entropy under the mechanism of eco-translatology and analyzes and studies the English-Chinese translation of Somerset Maugham’s novel The Painted Veil. Based on the introduction of the three-dimensional transformation viewpoints of language, culture, and communication dimensions in eco-translatology, this study conducts a comparative analysis of the source text of The Painted Veil, the machine translation outcomes from ChatGPT, and the human-translated version. The study indicates that human translation performs better in terms of information retention and cultural adaptability, while ChatGPT’s translation exhibits certain advantages in linguistic fluency. Utilizing Python as a tool and the word segmentation methods to calculate the information entropy of specific text passages, the study reveals the impact of various translation strategies on information transmission. The findings offer suggestions for improving translation practices and provide a novel perspective for translation studies.