Artificial Intelligence has been in the news for many years but over the last year or so has been at top of mind for everyone. We are told it will takeaway many jobs but if you are like me often think it will be a few years before it reaches my customer base. That being said you can imagine my surprise when I received my first translation project created by artificial intelligence. Now I would love to tell you that the document was totally crap and it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on, however that would be a lie. Even I was amazed to see it was about 75% correct from a language perspective.
How did I get the document if it was already translated? Just like any other translation project created by someone not familiar with the language it needs to be proofread to ensure accuracy. On the artificial intelligence document the words were correct for much of the document but in the translation world that is not all that matters. A word used in Parisian French and a word used in Canadian French may have the same meaning but may not be used in normal conversation. Dialect plays a big part in translation as each region of a Country has it’s own terminology. Will artificial intelligence change the translation business?
Should you start translating your own documents with artificial intelligence? The fact is AI is going to change many tech based business where people are creating content using a computer. Artificial intelligence may seem quicker to the person creating the document but is actually adding an additional step to the translation process. Unless you speak the language you still need a translator to proof read your document and clean it up. Most translation businesses are charging a proofreading fee with additional fee for any changes required. Changes may include changing words from Parisian French to Canadian French so are you really that far ahead by using artificial intelligence? AI is coming and will impact all businesses but using it for the sake of using it may be costing you more money. Remember people speak differently than computers.
About the Author
Carmen Outridge is the owner of Outridge Translation Services and has been translating documents between English and French for over 30 years. Carmen is from Eastern Townships part of Quebec and understands the language and dialect of Quebec. To learn more about Outridge Translation Services or to get help with your next project visit www.outridgetranslation.com
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