Until very recently, you’d always go to an individual or an agency for serious translations. Now AI seems to have taken over. But no, it’s not that simple. The machine translation is a good servant but a poor master.
A marketing colleague told us: “AI helps me cut time and costs while offering clients deeper service.” As a leading provider of translations and AI in Israel, we believe in making language services as cost-effective as possible.
Some translation steps can be done with AI tools. Others need the refinement of professional translators. People, just like AI tools, have their essential part to play.
Making translation more accessible
Technology makes our lives easier. Input text, select a language, and get results in Hebrew, German, Japanese – whatever. But is it presenting your message in the best way in a foreign language?
Don’t skip the evaluation
With important documents that cross borders, you don’t want information ‘lost in translation’.’ Apply common sense to machine translations. A recent incident made this point well.
A consultant created his English website with a skilled English copywriter and wanted a Hebrew version. He used ChatGPT, then asked a bilingual copywriter for a quality check. The copywriter said: “This AI output sounds strange. It’s 20% authentic at best. I need to rework it.”
His version was better but still contained misunderstandings. It took several revisions to fix it, with the consultant having to double-check everything. No, that’s not right.
The value that a translation agency brings
When hiring specialists, expect them to take charge. That’s what Lichi does as a top translation agency in Israel. The field of translations and AI in Israel has evolved rapidly, but many underestimate the effort required at the professional translation stage.
Mikhal Heffer, Lichi’s CEO, says: “Do it once and do it well.” Good translation captures nuances that AI misses. ‘Trans-literation’ requires imagination while remaining faithful to the source. It needs genuine literary talent.
The consultant’s mistakes were choosing the wrong tool; expecting AI to deliver the final product; and selecting a copywriter based solely on language knowledge.
Translations are more than AI
Progressive translation agencies ensure content remains credible in every new language. The landscape of translations and AI in Israel continues to evolve, with agencies providing quality assurance that automated systems can’t match.
Lichi uses its wide network of experts to allocate the most suitable talent. AI plays its part as well. “We used the technology with precision for specific language pairs, so that specialist translators can deliver quicker” explains Mikhal.
This ‘hybrid’ approach delivers faster, more cost-effective content while preserving the need for inspired and authentic use of language.
