If you’re like me and you’ve been waiting for machine translation to improve, I have some bad news: it still isn’t ready for prime time. Despite some improvements in recent years, machine translation software still struggles to accurately represent meaning between languages and cultures. Those who use human translators often find that their work is more meaningful, accurate, and relevant than what they’d get from a computer program—and here’s why:
Human translations are more meaningful.
Humans are better at understanding context, and therefore the meaning of words. They can also pick up on nuances that machines can’t. Machines will translate what you say word-for-word and won’t know whether or not it’s appropriate for your audience or if it has any meaning to people outside of your culture, but humans will take into account who their audience is and adjust accordingly.
Also, computers aren’t good with idioms (phrases whose literal meaning differs slightly from its figurative one). For example: “The cat was out of the bag” means that something was revealed which should have been kept secret; whereas “the cat came home” means that someone returned home safely after being away for a while. A machine might think this is just one phrase with slightly different spellings!
Human translations offer more accurate context.
Machine translations can’t understand the context of the text. Human translators can, so they can translate in more accurate ways.
For instance, consider this sentence: “I love you.” In one context, that statement could mean something completely different than it would in another context. For example, if I say those words to my partner while we’re having a fight about something stupid he said yesterday evening and he doesn’t respond with anything but silence, then those words might be meant as an insult—something like: “I’ll show you how much I love you by leaving now.” But suppose I’m at home with my children and I say those same words while kissing their foreheads goodnight before tucking them into bed (and they don’t respond negatively). In that case, they may be interpreted as a declaration of affection—something like: “I love being your mommy.” In these two scenarios (which happen countless times every day), human translators have access to an understanding not available through machine translation algorithms. They are able to take into account context and meaning which are lost on computers
Machine translation doesn’t take culture into account.
One of the biggest problems with machine translation is that it does not understand culture. This is why you’ll often find translations in your own language that sound completely off and even make no sense at all, but when you read them in the original language, they seem to make perfect sense.
The reason for this is simple: while machines can learn to translate words fairly accurately, they do not understand context or meaning beyond the literal level. They don’t know what they don’t know, so if there’s something in a sentence that seems off or doesn’t fit into their understanding of how things work, then they just won’t recognize it as an issue and carry on translating like nothing happened.
Human translation is still better (for now).
Machine translation is improving all the time, but human translation is still better. While it’s true that machine translations are getting better and better, they will never be as good as a human translator who understands your business and can make sure your message comes across clearly in any language. Machine translation is currently only useful for simple texts with no context or nuance (though even there, you’ll find machine translation programs struggle).
The future is uncertain, but the present is clear – human translation remains the superior option.
The future of machine translation is uncertain, but the present situation is clear: human translation remains the superior option.
Machine translation is getting better. It’s no longer a matter of whether it will improve, only how quickly and by how much. And while this may seem like a positive development for those who are innovating in this space, it presents a challenge to translators who specialize in providing high-quality work for their clients.
As the technology improves and more users adopt it, artificial intelligence will become better able to translate text on its own without requiring human input—and that means there may be less need for professional translations in some instances. However, even if AI becomes good enough at translating English (or any other language) into another language so that most people think they understand what they’re reading (even though they don’t really), human translators will still have an advantage over machines: accuracy, detail and readability.
Conclusion
The future of machine translation is uncertain, but the present is clear – human translation remains the superior option. It offers more accurate context, better grammar and punctuation, and overall better quality than automated systems. As far as we can tell, the best way to ensure that your message stays consistent across cultures is by using a human translator who understands both languages intimately.