The Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence in Translations

One of the main advantages of AI in language translation is that, unlike most machine-translation engines, it can generate human-like translations without any training, which is known as zero-shot learning. Most machine-translation engines can take months or even years to “learn” to produce MT content at a good standard, but LLMs require no training time and can produce it straight away. This means that companies can produce large volumes of quality MT content in very little time, which helps them enter new global markets more quickly.

Another advantage of using AI in language translations is that it’s often less expensive than using human linguists due to human input focusing more on reviewing and post-editing AI-generated translations than in translating them. For organizations that have a smaller budget and high localization demand, AI can be a cost-effective way to get content localized on time and without spiraling costs.

Human linguists can focus on tasks that add value to the process, such as ensuring the content’s localized o point and using the correct tone, or that it’s legally compliant in each market. In summary, AI does the heavy lifting and human linguists provide the finishing touches so that content can be published in a fraction of the time it would take if humans worked in every step of the process.

Language and culture go hand in hand. Making your content resonate culturally is of paramount importance to a brand’s image in its global markets. Whilst AI may do a good job of localizing content culturally for the world’s main markets, it may not have the data patterns needed for smaller but by no means less important markets. For this reason, having a human linguist in these instances is necessary, since publishing culturally inappropriate content in one market can have a knock-on effect on the rest, especially in the day and age of social media in which news travels so fast with such long reach.

AI translation systems often face challenges when it comes to specialized domains like law or medicine, leading to translations that may be less precise or applicable in these specific fields. In these fields, in which content accuracy is so important, any mistake can prove to be costly, which is why having a human expert translate and/or review the content can prove to be quicker in the long run than having to go through a time-consuming post-editing task. Furthermore, providing an erroneous translation for sensitive content could cause serious damage to a brand’s revenue or reputation.