The explosion of AI tools has created what seems to be a simple solution for instant, low-cost translation. There’s no arguing with the efficiency of AI, but as in many cases, you get what you pay for. In this article, we’ll compare AI with human translation and offer recommendations on when to look to these solutions.
Accuracy of AI vs. human translation
Quality translation is not just about swapping words from one language to another; it is about conveying meaning, intent, and cultural accuracy. There are often several phrases that a translator could choose, but word choice matters.
When you think of situations such as discussing health concerns or the need to utilize gender-neutral Spanish, it’s clear that the specific word choices matter.
That may not be a concern when it comes to situations like ordering something off a menu, but if you’ve ever seen an episode of Jimmy Fallon’s translation songs, you know that things can go awry when using AI translation.
In fact, a recent study revealed that approximately 30% of business communications translated AI solutions are misunderstood. That type of misstep can erode trust in an organization and harm its reputation.
Privacy of AI vs. human translation
For many people, talking to a machine feels more private than interacting with a human. But the truth is that all communications processed through public AI translation tools typically become part of the AI’s training data, creating a permanent record outside of your control.
That has serious privacy implications, especially if you are asking an AI tool to translate something that has personally identifiable information – things like your name, address, birthday or social security information.
When it comes to organizational situations, like for government agencies, medical providers, or even schools, it means that what’s meant to be an internal or private communication, could become something that a chatbot discusses with other people. Legal regulations such as HIPAA and FERPA that regulate sharing and protection of personal data are not guaranteed with free, online tools.
Unlike AI tools, qualified human translators follow a code of conduct that commits to work that is both respectful and responsible with personal details.
The role of machine translation
“Google Translate” has become synonymous with automated translation, regardless of which tool or approach is actually used. However, built-in translation tools that are available in many applications and platforms vary in quality and approach.
Machine translation leverages large language models to automatically match words with their foreign language equivalents. However, on their own, the output is often a word-for-word, literal translation.
Any machine translation tool can give you a good sense for the overall meaning of a text, but shouldn’t be considered publication quality.
At Alboum, we have built a process that leverages machine translation to get started – speeding production and reducing cost while relying on humans to refine the final output to:
- ensure quality
- consistency
- completeness
- cultural accuracy
Linguists correct mistranslations, literal translations, grammatical errors, and misspellings. The result is a natural-sounding overall tone of the text and accurate meaning of each phrase rather than a word-for-word translation.
Bottom line on AI vs. human translation
It’s hard to beat the efficiency of AI tools when you need a quick way to get your meaning across in personal situations. But when it comes to organizational communications or sensitive communications, it’s a good idea to add a human in the loop step.
Contact us today to learn if Alboum’s machine translation with post editing approach is right for you.
