Let’s be realistic. The vast majority of us use AI Translation tools. With the advancement of technologies, the world has become increasingly connected, travel has become more accessible, and even negotiations have broken boundaries never before crossed. These scenarios lead us, almost every day, to Artificial Intelligence Translators.
Sometimes we need to figure out how to translate a term from Non-English to English. It may also be the case that we want to understand the lyrics of a song we like. But it can also happen that we want to acquire knowledge and leverage our business.
Automatic translation brings several possibilities that can help us. However, we have to keep their limitations in mind and even be aware of situations in which they can harm us. Therefore, I have brought a list of pros and cons to help you understand the benefits and risks of automatic translation tools. Based on this list, you will be able to know when and how to use this software safely or choose to hire a translator when necessary.
Pros of automatic translation tools
1. Ease and Practicality
When we need an instant translation, Google Translator is one of our best friends. These days, it’s very easy to open your browser and ask for an automatic translation. Indeed, it is convenient and quick to do so. With one click, the tool gives us an answer, which may or may not be good. Regardless of the outcome, we will certainly be better off than without it.
This is an excellent advantage of automatic translators. In fact, many times when we need a quick translation, the content refers to something informal. We just need to translate it for our immediate understanding. Therefore, automatic translation will not have major consequences if it is not perfect.
In this way, AI Translator becomes a great ally when a student of a foreign language comes across a new term or when someone who doesn’t know another language and wants to understand the lyrics of a song they really like.
2. Linguistic Combinations
Nobody knows more languages than machine translation tools. In principle, you can even be a polyglot and speak 5 languages. But as of 2023, Tools like Google Translate speaks 133 languages. Without a doubt, this means that the possibilities for combining languages are countless. In other words, you can translate a K-pop lyric in Korean into English.
If you are traveling, you can also use the voice translation feature. Even if you don’t speak the local language, you can take advantage of machine translation software to communicate with natives.
3. Diversity of accepted files
As with voice translation, you can insert different types of documents into AI Translator. As a result, you will have translated the document. In principle, the quickest way to do this is by typing the text or word you want to translate into the translation box. However, Tools like Google Translate currently also accept image and text files in .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .docx, .pdf, .pptx and .xlsx formats.
In other words, just upload a file to an AI translation tool and the result will be delivered with one click. However, this tool has some limitations. In other words, it may happen that some language combinations are not available for some languages.
4. Machine Learning
Do you remember what machine translation tools were like a few years ago? For example, “mango” was always translated into English as the fruit, “mango”. But today, Tools like Google Translate provides different translation possibilities for different meanings of a word.
In fact, the automatic translator shows us much more than just a translation for a certain word. Based on the searches that users conduct on the internet, it shows us how frequently that word is used in the online world.
Furthermore, translation tools already allow the user to send feedback regarding a translation. This makes frequent improvements to these software possible through machine learning.
Cons of automatic translation tools
1. Precision and Nuances
As I said above, machine translation tools have improved a lot over time. Even so, the lack of context still hinders them when it comes to offering appropriate and consistent solutions.
If a vernacular has several translation possibilities and the tool does not take the context into account, terminological inconsistency is likely to occur. Just to give an example, nothing prevents the tool from using a term on one page of text and, at another point in the same text, applying another term as a synonym, without any standardization or precision.
Both colloquial texts and technical texts have their own vocabulary and forms of expression. Consequently, for people from the same “tribe”, a change in this language may sound strange and unnatural. Therefore, when it is necessary to maintain the same tone as the original in the translation, the ideal is for the text, even if automatically translated, to pass through the experienced eye of a human reviewer. This process is called machine translation post-editing. We’ve talked about this previously here.
2. Cultural context
One of the forms of cultural expression of a people is their language. As a result, each culture will have a unique way of approaching idioms. Typically, idiomatic expressions originate from the history of a people. Furthermore, languages convey feelings and memories. However, for these to be transmitted in another language, it is necessary to look for equivalents of these expressions in the language into which they are translating.
When it comes to international negotiations, it is worth highlighting that the legal systems of each country, in themselves, are already different. This way, whenever an international negotiation takes place, we have rules being transferred from one country to another. However, it is often not possible to find equivalents for certain legal concepts involved in these scenarios.
These translation challenges are solved when you have a human translator who is aware of these differences.
3. Translation of official documents
There are documents that can only be validly translated by certified professionals. These professionals are sworn translators. Therefore, even if automatic translation tools can competently translate these types of documents, their translations remain without public faith. In fact, the sworn translator is the professional who, in addition to translating a document, confers public faith on it. In other words, the document is recognized by the government as being a reliable translation of the original.
4. Privacy
Many documents that need to be translated are confidential. Its contents generally concern negotiations involving commercial secrets and thousands of dollars. Other times, the documents contain personal data that must be protected by law.
AI Translators’ Privacy Policy and Terms of Service determine what information is collected and stored. In them, we see that information entered into their services, including the Translator, can be stored and analyzed by the algorithm.
Therefore, there is a risk of data leakage from the use of automatic translation tools, especially when we are talking about free tools. Therefore, hiring a reliable translation company is essential to ensure that such confidential data does not end up exposed through the use of automatic translation tools.
Conclusion
Automatic translation tools are a reality on the market. However, they cannot be used indiscriminately. There are occasions when hiring a human translator or a reputable translation company from the beginning of the process is essential.