AI technology has drastically improved as scientists have taught computer programs to ‘self-learn’. A computer can re-program its own code in order to function better at its task on hand. Which begs the question, is AI translation set to become another norm in our lives?
What is AI Translation?
Rather than appointing a human translator, an AI translation software will automatically translate one language into another. It allows you to comprehend the foreign language used by the speaker and hold a conversation with them.
AI technology can read individual words in a number of languages. It finds the similarities between the different languages that exist between words and generate a translation!
The Advantages of AI Translation
There is a common perception that AI translation tools are used in sci-fi programs, such as Doctor Who and Star Trek, where one can hear people talking in his native tongue. However, this is far from reality! Elite Asia’s AI translation portal provide clients from different industries with a hassle-free approach to translate a large amount of content in a short turnaround time.
The main advantages of AI translator tools in comparison to human translators are that AI is both cheaper and quicker. Here are some of the other advantages of using AI for translation:
- Enhance quality in domain- and language-specific engines
- Work incredibly quick, normally only takes a minute or so
- Ideal for website translation
- Able to translate a large number of languages, whereas a human may only be able to translate one or two
- Becoming more accurate
The Disadvantages of AI Translation
Although machine translation looks good on paper, there are a number of disadvantages:
- Low accuracy for certain industries which can be easily recognised by native speakers
- Mixed quality work generated by mass localisation, with some languages giving more accurate results than others
- Incapability to comprehend the meaning of the context, creating confusing results
- High risk of making costly language mistakes, such as translating into a taboo in another language
The Reality
Many people put a lot of faith into these tools, praising their high productivity and cost effectiveness. Application of such technology is particularly common in industries such as Finance, E-Commerce and Legal. It may prove to be a powerful tool to achieve massive localisation, the accuracy of the different languages is not yet standardised.
In Conclusion
Weighing up the cost of a bad translation against the cost of appointing a human translator is crucial when requiring a translation service. A bad translation will not only cost longer turnaround time, but it also costs more money to resolve the mistakes!
AI translation is deemed as a wonderful solution when it comes to localisation of e-commerce websites or large-scale portals. Leveraging on a domain- and language-specific translation machines and human post-editing to translate high volume contents to targeted languages is a smart way to complete the task.
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