Translation in the Age of AI
Why professional post-editing matters
Only a few years back, the topic of artificial intelligence was considered an esoteric field of discussion, a futuristic topic more related to science fiction than our busy, traditional lives. Then came the release of ChatGPT, which revolutionized the way we search for information and, in many cases, how we conduct our professional lives. All of a sudden, what once seemed like a futuristic scenario of superintelligent machines came rushing into our lives and many of us soon discovered the powerful potential this tool had in both our private lives as well as in our work-related day-to-day tasks.
In some creative industries, such as music, art and film, the rapid rise of AI has not only been a welcome gift of efficiency – as some people fear it will render us nothing but useless bystanders in comparison to the endless capacity of this divine technology. Who would want to hire a musician anymore, when the next summer hit could be generated at the click of a button, right?
Why Human Translators Still Matter
I recently came across a witty article written by a Norwegian journalist who, in a dispute with a customer service representative, suddenly realized that they both were using ChatGPT to craft their messages to each other. The result of this was an endless chain of sharp yet comically polite exchanges of messages - resulting in nothing but an incredibly professional and well-phrased series of emails. This story, amusing as it is, still serves as proof of how the uncritical and incautious use of generative language models can strip our writing of depth and authenticity.
In the translation industry, some of my colleagues share the same concerns as those voiced in the music and art industries. Because what will happen to our livelihoods, now that our clients can get super-polished and accurate translations in a matter of seconds, without spending a dollar. Have humans become superfluous in the creative industries? Well, not yet – and especially not in translation.
“Here's your accurate and culturally appropriate translation! Would you also like me to create a calendar reminder for your deadlines?”
AI translations, however impressive, rarely convey the full nuance of any source text. Language models are indeed powerful tools, producing fluent and well-structured content, and of course you should take advantage of that. However, the results you get from a language model heavily depend on how the prompt is structured and how much time you put into the post-editing. And even if you do manage to skillfully craft a well-phrased prompt for your translation request, there’s no guarantee that your text will not carry that awkward AI touch.
Therefore, if your goal is to come across as professional and well-articulated, the last thing you want to do is to fully put your work in the hands of AI to translate, without doing that final human edit. Because translation is about more than just converting a text from one language to another – it is about conveying the intended tone of voice, cultural accuracy, credibility and readability.
So, what should we make of this? I’m the first to admit that AI should be used whenever you find it helpful in your writing and translation work, but I’m still confident that it should be used as a tool in addition to, and not as a replacement for, human work. The future of translation is not man versus machine – it’s man working with machine. Because human work will turn a good AI draft into a great text, and it will make your content stand out among the other not-so-well-refined AI texts on the market. And that’s exactly where professional post-editing comes in.
Stand out among your competitors, go with a human editor for your texts. And for your Norwegian content, choose Lexinord.