AI-Assisted Translation is NOT Replacing Professional Translators

Even in the distant future, true masters of trade will run supreme

A. AI embarrassed the US president

In July 2023, Vilnius held a NATO summit. During this summit, President Bident gave a public address to the local audience. Before Biden finished the speech, local inhabitants started posting screenshots asking who was that dumbass who did the translation?

The caption reads: ‘As my mom would say, God loves you, without seeds. Holy cod!’

Soon enough it appeared that no living translator was to blame. The speech was machine-translated. No one looked into it. The outcome was that everyone forgot about Biden and focused on the mistranslations. No matter what Joe Biden was saying, the speech was a failure and disgrace for the United States.

B. Grave need for the AI-assisted translation

Over the past decade, various technologies of machine translation, artificial intelligence and automated speech processing revolutionized the world of translation. Every translator has heard multiple times: “Who still requests translation services?” We hear apocalyptic predictions that the translator trade will go extinct. In this, as in many other areas, a human will supposedly be fully replaced by machines. A robot, with the help of smart algorithms, will be able to understand, process, translate, and edit texts of any complexity and in any combination of languages.

Listen to me very carefully — scene from Terminator 2.

Indeed, the world of new technologies is changing very rapidly and AI-generated translation is a promising direction. The volume of texts to be translated is growing, deadlines are getting shorter, and European Union institutions are increasingly investing in machine translation to speed up the process. But it is important to retain a cold head and realize that humans remain irreplaceable in translation. Behind any automated function, no matter how fancy its name, is human input — human intelligence, empathy, and understanding of language to the slightest of nuances. What lies underneath the initial algorithms of machine translation? Well, it is thousands of man-translated documents, words and phrases that can be alternated and adapted. That’s why translation algorithms struggle to crack novels and poems. Only a human can feel and convey the subtleties of cultural differences, the intricacies of language, and literary style chosen by the author.

C. Professional Translators Adapt and Improve

Professional translators do appreciate the importance of technology and are constantly improving, investing money, time and effort delve into the latest neural machine translation solutions and AI capabilities. This requires, above all, investment in technologies — translation programs, neuro-machine translation licenses, glossaries, etc. Then professional translators devote much time and effort to mastering complex technological novelties. Thus the translator gets gradually accustomed to work in an augmented reality that requires incredible technological savvy and skills.

Professional translators work in augmented reality

Modern professional translators must be prepared for digital transformation as much as other white-collar professionals — doctors, engineers, IT specialists — anyone who uses the latest technologies.

Notwithstanding, there is something I must ask: would you allow even the smartest robotic surgical device to do an operation on you if there is no skilled doctor to supervise the performance? Why, then, should one blindly trust the machine translation when it is not edited by humans? Eventually, even the most advanced technologies are worthless or, worse still, do more harm than good without a translator who is proficient in applying them professionally. Without human interference, AI misleads readers with what seems a perfect result at face value. However, underneath lies a plethora of cases of severely distorted meaning. These mistranslations are difficult to catch for an untrained eye. In the meantime, meaning is king in translation!

Left unchecked, AI translation can cause much harm

D. The value of competent specialists is not going away

The bottom line is that the work of professionals, be it translators or others, deserves appreciation and we cannot recklessly claim they will soon be obsolete. Instead, we must appreciate their competence, great value they create and compensate them accordingly. The alternative is to rely on machines that are not accountable for their mistakes and can be manipulated by their programmers at any time. They do not feel any shame when they go wildly inaccurate. Even when they cause embarrassment to the US president.

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This article was prepared from the 65th episode of Tiško kanaliukas, YT content sponsored by language service Magistrai. Magistrai is an international team of translators, interpreters and language editors who focus on creating texts of impact. To learn how they can make your texts leave a stronger impression on your target audience, please visit Magistrai website or contact the office.