Do I need a professional translator in the age of AI?

When professional translation is essential

In the previous scenarios, the occasional error in nuance or slightly unidiomatic tone would not hurt anyone and can therefore be tolerated. However, when the stakes are higher — such as when the text will be associated with a brand’s voice or when a tiny inaccuracy could result in a lawsuit — professional translation is not just beneficial, but essential. Here are two good reasons why:

1. Professional translators can reflect your brand voice and creativity

Your brand’s voice is what sets you apart from competitors. Whether you’re a luxury goods retailer with an elegant, refined tone or a tech startup with a playful and innovative vibe, your communications need to reflect that consistently across languages. Professional translators can replicate your brand voice, while also adapting your text to meet the target audience's cultural expectations.

Neural machine translation and generative AI tools, on the other hand, lack the ability to be creative and cannot capture your unique style. Their translations can come across as generic, uninspired, or — worse — culturally inappropriate for the target audience. Whether you succeed at expanding into a new market has everything to do with how well your content is translated and localised, and you cannot risk using texts of suboptimal quality.

2. Professional translators can guarantee accuracy – or accept liability

Some errors in translation can have even more serious consequences, particularly in legal, technical, financial, or medical contexts. A mistranslated clause in a contract or an inaccurate product manual can lead to legal disputes, financial losses, or even safety hazards. Professional translators are experts in their field, and apply stringent quality assurance processes to avoid inaccuracies.

In a world with increasingly advanced, low-cost generative AI and neural machine translation tools, it’s tempting to think that professional translation is no longer a necessary investment. However, while these technologies play a valuable role in removing language barriers, they also have their limitations — and understanding when you can and cannot rely on them is essential for all businesses.

When machine translation is sufficient

It all comes down to the purpose of your translation. If the stakes are low and the translation will never be seen by clients, there is no reason why machine translation can’t be used to save time and money. There are two main scenarios when machine translation can be the best option:

1. Information gathering

If you need a quick overview of a foreign-language text or you are conducting market research in another language, machine translation can give you a good understanding of the content of the source text.

2. Internal Communication

When communicating internally within a multinational team, machine translation is sufficient, as the exchange of information does not need to be written to the high standards of a client-facing text. However, if you are using free machine translation tools, remember not to input any sensitive data, as it will not be kept confidential and you cannot control how or when your data will be used.

Internal communication can often be machine translated. Image: Unsplash

Another advantage of professional translation is that on the rare occasion that there is an inaccuracy in a high-stakes translation, the liability for the consequences rests with the translator, whose professional indemnity insurance should compensate you for your losses. If you use generative AI, there is no such financial safety net!

Saving money on professional translation

Professional translation of high-stakes or client-facing texts is an investment which can save you lots of money in the long run. However, if you are looking to make savings in the short run too, consider only translating the most important pages of your website or document, and learn how to write texts that lend themselves well to translation, allowing your translators to work more efficiently.

If you need a translation or transcreation from German into English that maintains your brand voice and resonates with your target audience, check out my services page or contact me.

Mistranslations can have legal implications. Image: Unsplash