What’s happening in the translation industry right now? We don’t need to tell you that AI is taking over every creative sector on the planet right now. All it takes is one look at social media or a shop window and you can see the generic AI posters screaming for your attention. Just like the garbled text, boring content and plastic feel you’d expect from any graphic design generated by artificial intelligence, translations produced by machine leave the very same unpleasant impression on their readers.
That being said, there is a difference in cost. You pay for what you get, and some people don’t seem to be too worried about the impact or lack thereof that they leave on their audience.
Translation has always been about ticking a box.
- We need these safety instructions to be translated into these languages or else we won’t get EU approval… let’s get that box ticked.
- We need this wedding certificate to be translated or else the court will reject it… let’s get that box ticked.
- We need these menus to be translated or else our guests won’t know what they’re ordering and our staff will waste time explaining the dishes… let’s get that box ticked.
- We need these operations manuals to be translated or else the machines could cause injury or even death… let’s get that box ticked.
The truth is that no company has ever looked forward to getting their text translated. It’s always been something that has to be done.
At the beginning of the AI buzz a few years ago, our translation industry saw it as just another Google Translate to overcome. We saw the dawn of automated translation off and everyone recognised that human translation was the only way to go, given the epic translation fails we’ve all seen from the machine. But for some reason, businesses seem to think that the new era of AI translation is different and better to Google Translate and have begun to turn their backs on their regular translation agencies or freelance translators.
We can safely say that this era of AI translation is no different to anything that’s come before us. The only difference is that it’s more convincing. To a non-native eye, the language seems idiomatic and natural, but to a native speaker, it reads clumsily and carelessly (just like your generic AI poster). You are effectively telling your clients or target market that they are not worth spending money on, that they don’t deserve to read your content like your customers in your home country.
Why is that? Just to save a few pounds? When you think that a 300-word text from English into French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Dutch only costs £30 + VAT with Active Languages Translation Company, it doesn’t seem worth it does it?
By the time the AI buzz is over and companies start realising the impact it’s had on their business and customer satisfaction, there won’t be anyone left to pick up the pieces and get your business back on track. The only translators you’ll be able to find are the scammers who say they can translate from and into every single language on Earth for £40 per 1000 words… and they’ll do about as good a job as AI anyway.
A translation by a human is written with care, expertise and precision. A translation by a machine is written. It simply doesn’t compare… and your overseas clients know it.
It’s make or break time for both your clients and our translators. A couple of our translators have been in touch to say they’re leaving the industry and we’re gutted about it.
The first thing we thought was: could we have done more outreach for them? Could we have promoted their languages more? Their language combinations were never popular ones for our clients, so we rarely had any work for them.
We got great feedback about their work, they were always reliable and professional, we left them a review on translation platforms to help them get work, we always had a nice chat when they contacted us to let us know their availability or wish us a Happy Christmas.
But now that’s it, we may never hear from them again. One was bad enough, two is worse… how can we stop this happening?
Here are some things that businesses can do to help:
- Go back to your human translators! Even if it’s just to proofread your machine translation, it will keep them in the industry and it will help pay the bills.
- Work direct with freelance translators or with small LSPs like Active Languages. The big agencies don’t need your business… the little ones do.
- Talk to your LSP. If there’s a budgetary concern, we can find a way to get you the quality translations your business needs without your accountant panicking.
- Remember that translation isn’t expensive. We offer monthly rolling word counts for very short texts like LinkedIn or social media posts so you avoid a minimum charge.
An entire craft is at stake.
Use it or lose it.
