The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Translation
When it comes to translation services, new technologies open doors for the services to reach farther than they ever have before. With the introduction of artificial intelligence into the mix, it is offering a variety of benefits but also downsides. Some may wonder if human translation will become obsolete.
The short answer is no. Human translation is always going to be necessary no matter how advanced artificial intelligence becomes. Below you’ll find a variety of benefits in using AI in your translation services while also considering the disadvantages that come along with it. AI can offer aspects to a translation service that other technology cannot.
Benefits of Artificial Intelligence In Translation
There are two sides to every coin and using AI in translation is no different. If you’re considering adding this to a communication company, it’s important to consider both aspects of utilizing AI. A few of the benefits to adding this technology to translation services include:
- Increasing productivity – When it comes to handling a large amount of content, machine translation can help do it quickly. This helps to shorten turnaround times for work such as large manuals or a huge volume of content for multiple clients.
- Reduce time – When it comes to owning a business in translation services, time is money. By reducing the amount of time it takes for your translations to be complete, you can increase income.
- Reduction in cost – While humans are still necessary no matter how well the AI may perform, you can reduce labor costs because it is required for humans to be involved much less than if doing the translation themselves.
Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence in Translation
There are some great benefits to using AI in translation services. However, you must evaluate both sides of the argument before committing to adding this service to your company or translation business. The disadvantages of using artificial intelligence in translation can include:
- Style – A reader expects a human touch when consuming a book or other content. However, AI can only offer a more robotic style approach to the translation. The humanity that people add to the mix is lost entirely. Adding a human proofreader can reduce this somewhat.
- Lose accuracy – Unfortunately, the AI may lose the context of content in the translation. If the machine transcription cannot grasp the context of the content, it can lead to errors or mistranslations in pieces. This is where humans will still have to come in and correct issues that are found.
- Lose culture – When a machine translates the content, cultural nuances, phrases, and idioms can get lost in translation. AI cannot translate the cultural phrases or understand the culture when it is giving translation. These areas will require humans to translate properly to help give context to what the reader is consuming.
Will Artificial Intelligence Take Over?
While AI can help with certain areas of translation, it will never make human translators obsolete. Computers and machines simply cannot provide the nuances of cultural lingo that a person can provide. While the technology does offer more opportunities for translation companies to provide multiple services to their clients, it will never replace the need for humans to proofread and produce the final product. AI is providing a vast number of opportunities to those in the translation field to expand their offerings to their clients. It also means that the industry itself shows no slowing down when it comes to an increase in jobs and services.
Artificial intelligence will offer benefits to translation companies that decide to utilize it in their business. This will make their job easier to do as AI can provide translation options to choose from. It will help to speed up translations even with the need for proofreading to be done by a human being.
Rather than AI taking over, it is important to understand that collaboration between man and machine will help to further the translation industry. It will help to improve services and increase the reach of those who are trying to help the world understand each other. This will truly be an asset to the translation community that more companies will start to take advantage of in the future.