Our approach is that AI and Machine Translation is simply a step towards doing a better job. How can you cross countries and cultures if you don’t use all the technologies and skills available? That’s exactly what we do in Israel.
If you’re considering using a translation agency like us, you’ll probably ask how AI tools fit in for us. What are the issues when translating texts for business needs?
Define your purpose
AI and Machine Translation have made great strides in recent years. Once it was Google Translate. Now it’s ChatGPT, Claude and many other tools – all of which do a reasonable job with fluency and fluidity of the translated language. That’s fine if you’re translating a letter or a message. But in the business context, you need more.
Recognize the limitations
What should you expect from machine translations? It depends how important your text is. At Lichi Translations in Israel, we see repeatedly how AI falls short and needs good translation agencies or individuals to back it up.
AI and Machine Translation only takes you so far. Even if you reach 75%, that still leaves the other 25% of the work – checking for accuracy, context and logic. It can be awkward if your target audience notices that the text you sent in their language was machine-translated.
See this sentence from a Korean website:
More than 30 years have passed since I stopped writing, and after the change of generation, I wanted to take over the 100th anniversary of the opening of the business. I decided to send it.
Yes, it IS in English, but the 35 words used don’t communicate much that is useful.
Grasp the nuances
Translators are trained in the subtleties of meaning and expression. As professional communicators, their job is to blend seamlessly into the local culture. Computers cannot grasp these nuances.
Look at this simple yet ambiguous sentence: “They are flying planes”.
1) Does ‘they’ refer to planes in the air, or the pilots flying them?
2) There’s a woodworking tool called a ‘plane’. Is it clear that we’re talking about aircraft?
3) Is there an emphasis on the word ‘flying’? If so, should we distinguish between planes that can fly and those that can’t?
Each of these points is a moment of hesitation. Imagine how many times in an AI- translated text you might have to stop and think. That’s why a skilled human eye is necessary for important business documents.
How AI matches up with human translations
Our translations projects with AI in Israel serves to significantly speed things up. Instead of spending five hours on a job, a translator may spend two hours – checking, editing and correcting. The technical term for this is Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE). In this process, a text that was previously pre-translated by an MT engine is later shaped into its final form after being edited by a human translator.
But note that much depends on the complexity of the subject. In some cases, MT texts will only deliver 40% or 50% of the final result.
Don’t forget the impact
For any marketing content, translation should also consider the impact of the final job. That’s why we add Editing and Copywriting services (costed separately) for clients who need to open doors with their translated messages.
International communication today is far more intense and frequent. The time-saving (and budget-saving) technology is welcome, so long as all parties realize that it’s not a ‘magic solution’. Extensive human effort is a crucial factor.
