Human and machine translators

Allies or rivals?

This is an interesting and trending question.

Human translation involves the process of translating text from one language into another based on the expertise of trained and experienced professionals.

Machine translation, made by AI, is a promising subfield of natural language processing (NLP) that aims to overcome language barriers and promote global communication.

Translation is a complex activity that involves not only the conversion of words, but also of meaning, feelings and cultures.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way in recent years, but it still can’t completely replace human translators. 

Of course, there are advantages and challenges to each of these forms of translation. Here are some of the main points:

Unlike AI, human translators have a deep understanding of the source and target languages, including their cultural nuances and contextual subtleties, which helps to ensure that both the emotional and cultural contexts of the message are correctly conveyed to the target audience.

Human translators can also apply this contextual insight that AI lacks to deal with complex texts, such as legal documents or technical manuals. Humans can interpret ambiguous or idiomatic text by considering the wider context, resulting in a more accurate and faithful translation.

Machine translation has the advantage of being faster, more accessible and more practical than human translation, especially when it comes to very long texts or rarer languages for which it’s hard to find the right professionals.

AI has already proven to be able to provide a very approximate translation that may be enough to understand the meaning of a text in some cases where only a general understanding of the original is required.

However, AI translation is not 100% reliable! 🤖

AI may not perceive the context of a specific word or phrase and does not have the insight to realize this, resulting in grammatical, semantic or stylistic errors that go unnoticed in the text, but can cause comprehension issues.

The computer may also be confused by expressions with a figurative meaning, and with humor, irony or sarcasm.

Did you know that AI-based chat tools can tell jokes? But if you ask them to come up with a joke, you’ll quickly realize that their sense of humor is… strange, to say the least.

A human translator is able to grasp the nuances and implications of the original message and adapt it appropriately to the culture and context of the target audience. And they’ll have a sense of humor! At least better than AI’s—see an example below! 😁

n addition, a human translator will avoid mistakes that could be damaging or offensive and could affect the good name or credibility of a company or individual. 

So, human translators will always be better qualified to translate content that requires responsibility, quality, sensitivity and discernment.

According to some experts, the future of translation lies in the collaboration between human intelligence and machine translation, as is the case with MTPE, or Machine Translation Post-Editing.

Human translators excel at creative thinking and adapting translations to specific audiences, while AI is ideal for automating repetitive tasks. 

Some define singularity in translation as the point at which AI can produce translations as good as or better than human translators, in terms of speed, cost and quality.

However, this definition can vary depending on the type of text, the language and the purpose of the translation.

In addition, there are ethical and social issues involved in machine translation, such as the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity, copyright protection and liability for possible damage caused by incorrect or inadequate translations. 

In sum, we don’t know if singularity in the field of translation is close or even possible. 

Perhaps it’s more likely that artificial intelligence will continue to evolve and complement human intelligence, creating new forms of collaboration and learning between machines and people.

In other words, the answer to this question depends on several factors and is not definitive, but we believe that AI will never be able to completely replace human translators, but rather complement and improve them.

Human translators may have to adapt to technological changes, acquire new skills and provide new services, but they won’t become obsolete!

What do you think? If you appreciate reliability and quality, you can certainly trust human translation more than AI translation to capture the nuances and implications of the original message.

Although automatic tools have improved their accuracy, the client must assess whether the document requires a high degree of accuracy. If not, you can save time and money by using machine translation.

However, if the material involves academic papers, documents or contracts, it doesn’t pay to go for the cheapest option!

Are you looking for human professionals who prioritize customer satisfaction and the quality of their translation, proofreading and content writing services?

You’ve struck gold! Click on the link below! 😊

https://verbarium-boutique.com/contacts/

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