Artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting all industries in an unprecedented manner and at a rapid speed, and the translation services industry is one of them.
The new technology has an impact on the translation services we use across different languages, starting from machine translation to AI-powered translation platforms.
While AI promises us high productivity and rapid speed, there are questions about its accuracy and the quality of the translation provided, as well as the role of the human translator.
In this article, we will discuss how AI is changing the translation service industry, what it can do now, what it cannot do, and the fate of human translators.
The Evolution of Translation Before AI
How was translation before AI? The translation process relied entirely on the human translator, who depended on dictionaries, their expertise in a specific field, and the search for terms related to that field in references and books to provide an accurate translation.
Then, computer-assisted translation tools (CAT tools) emerged, which rely on translation memories and databases of terminology. These tools were an aid for the translator to complete a larger number of projects in a short time while maintaining translation quality and consistency of terminology and reducing time and effort in research and proofreading.
What Role Does AI Play in Modern Translation?
AI plays a crucial role in modern translation through innovative technologies evolving continually to make translation more accurate, faster, and not entirely literal. AI depends on three basic technologies, which are:
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
It is the first step in training AI, where we enable the computer to generate natural languages like humans, such as English and Arabic, instead of using symbols and numbers. In the field of translation, it is responsible for decoding the language before translating it by analyzing parts of speech, resolving ambiguities, and performing morphological and syntactic analysis of the text.
Machine Learning algorithms
It is the method by which we teach the computer by giving it a large amount of data, and it discovers the pattern itself and learns from it to make decisions on its own. In translation, we train the system by machine learning, giving it millions of sentences translated by human translators so it can learn the patterns.
Neural Machine Translation (NMT)
It is the latest and most powerful tool in translation, combining natural language processing and machine learning. It is considered a highly advanced application because it translates the sentence as a whole within the context, just like the human translator’s brain does, rather than word by word.
Machine Translation vs. Human Translation
There are fundamental differences between machine translation and human translation, which we summarize in the following table:
| Machine Translation | Human Translation |
| Machine translation is often literal, making it suitable for general and straightforward content. | Human translation is distinguished by subject-matter expertise; thus, it is suitable for specialized fields, such as legal and medical. |
| It is not good with cultural references and idioms, so it translates them literally, lacking any sense for the target audience. | Human translators know the cultural nuances and understand the content to provide natural and cultural resonant content for the target audience. |
| Machine translation is distinguished by its rapid speed to translate large volumes within minutes. | Human translation takes more time, depending on the field, the complexity of the text, and the word count. |
| Machine translation is the lowest cost among the current translation solutions. | Human translation is more expensive, depending on the subject matter and translator expertise. |
| Machine translation is not suitable for transcreation because it relies on a large database of terms that it simply uses. | A human translator has the ability to understand the text and adapt it for the target audience, maintaining the tone and emotional impact. |
How AI Improves Speed, Scalability & Cost Efficiency
Translation done with AI-supported tools is characterized by its speed, completing projects in minutes or a few hours for extensive projects and large volumes.
In addition, it can work on multiple language pairs at the same time, unlike human translation, which relies on a single language pair. Of course, AI tools are less expensive than regular translation, which requires more effort, takes longer, and costs more.
The Impact of AI on Translation Quality
In the beginning, machine translation provided poor translations that lacked context, merely translating word for word. It required a human translator to put in a lot of effort to rephrase it using the correct terms in their proper places, which took a lot of time.
However, with the development of AI that feeds and teaches tools by providing them with translated sentences, it has the opportunity to deliver higher-quality translations than before and more accurate and precise translations than the initial machine translation.
But currently, this varies according to the language pair and the field of translation. For example, it is difficult to rely on AI in the legal field or creative translation.
AI-Powered Tools in the Translation Industry
After the significant change that the translation field has witnessed with the advent of AI, many people are searching daily for the best AI translation tools. Here are the top 5 available tools currently, along with their pros and cons.
| AI Translation Tool | Pros | Cons |
| Smartling |
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Lokalise |
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| DeepL |
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Phrase |
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| ChatGPT |
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Why Linguists Still Matter
Artificial intelligence can never replace a human translator at any time because a human translator has indispensable qualities and qualifications.
The human translator is capable of understanding the text well, analyzing it logically, and translating it according to the target culture without losing the spirit and meaning of the original text.
The human translator is also capable of conveying the sense of humor, sadness, and emotions present in creative texts, in addition to adhering to the standards and laws stipulated in each country. Artificial intelligence is merely a tool that helps him achieve more in less time.
AI and Localization for Global Businesses
Expanding businesses into global markets requires quick and precise linguistic solutions that can keep up with the updates and changes that occur on websites and various advertising campaigns. Here comes the role of AI, which has become the primary support for many companies and businesses.
Developers rely on it to build websites in multiple languages to suit the target audience in each country.
However, this does not prevent the involvement of human translators, who take on the tasks of proofreading and reviewing to ensure that the content fits the culture of the target audience.
Challenges & Limitations of AI in Translation
AI faces many challenges in translation, such as being limited to general texts and struggling to accurately translate specialized texts. In addition, there are concerns about data confidentiality and information security because AI stores and analyzes the transactions it processes for use in other projects.
Therefore, individuals and companies do not rely on it for translating confidential data and information.
The Future of Translation Services with AI
Questions abound and concerns are rising regarding the future of AI in the translation industry. Many expect it to overshadow the translator’s profession and replace it.
However, the current scene does not paint the picture this way; rather, it emphasizes the importance of collaboration between human translators and AI to achieve the best results.
With the help of human translators, we can develop and modify various AI models to achieve more accurate results.
In this way, we will need translators who understand how to work with AI to achieve the desired results, rather than translators who avoid dealing with it out of fear for their profession.
The profession of the translator will involve training and developing AI to help it accomplish tasks, in addition to editing and correcting the translations provided by AI.
How Businesses Can Leverage AI Translation Effectively
AI will be beneficial for companies when they use it to translate their websites into multiple languages, alongside employing human translators to review the accuracy and correctness of the translation.
Companies must apply data confidentiality and information security standards when dealing with AI to maintain the confidentiality of their information.
In addition to that, companies can provide multilingual customer service at a low cost by using AI translation.
Conclusion
At the end of our article, we find how AI is changing the translation service industry by providing the required speed in completing large volumes.
However, this does not mean that it eliminates the role of the human translator, as they are an essential element in the translation process to ensure the accuracy of translations in specialized fields.
Even the translations produced by AI, with its ability to understand the text and convert it to the target culture while maintaining the tone and meaning of the original text, still require human oversight.
In the near future, the landscape of the translation industry will shift to a strong collaboration between human translators and AI translation to achieve maximum benefit.
Read More: ESG translation services.
FAQs
Is AI translation accurate?
AI is not accurate for all types of content. It is suitable for general content and provides impressive results but it is not for specialized content like legal and medical.
Is AI translation suitable for translating official documents?
No, official document translation must be done by a certified translation office to be recognized by the governmental entities.
Can I rely on AI translation to translate my immigration paper?
No. embassies do not accept AI translations. You have to translate your immigration paper by a certified translation that provides you a signed and sealed translation to be approved by embassies.
Which industries rely on AI translation?
There are many industries that benefit from AI translation, such as media, e-commerce, marketing, and technology.
