Unsure how AI compares to human translation? Well, we conducted a study to find out!

Using AI to translate and edit documents is fast becoming an option for businesses needing to reach international audiences pronto. The translation industry is no stranger to new technologies; the last three decades have seen huge improvements in machine translation – advances that we have harnessed at AST to keep quality high and costs low for our clients. Tone of voice, quality and consistency are vital in your business’ communications. So then, the all-important question: does AI cut the mustard?

In a recent white paper, which you can download here, our language experts used data from our post-editing projects to gauge the quality of AI-generated translations. Our translators delved into the detail, logging errors by severity and text type (corporate, journalistic, persuasive, legal, technical and creative) over an 8-week period to see if AI alone is up to scratch.

Takeaway 1: AI struggles with nuance and tone

We found that, in persuasive, journalistic and creative texts requiring flair or a distinctive brand voice, AI doesn’t do the source text justice, translating expressions and marketing content rather blandly with word-for-word translations. This often hinders flow, misses important cultural context and makes distinctive turns of phrase appear dull. Post-editing then becomes more of a rewriting process, taking up precious time that could be spent on other areas of your business.

Takeaway 2: AI makes important terminology errors

In technical, legal and corporate texts, our findings show that AI translates terms inconsistently that, if left unchecked, don’t reflect the broader context and could lead to serious misunderstandings. Thankfully, these errors are quite straightforward to correct in the post-editing stage. That’s where we come in – you can rely on our experienced language professionals to pay close attention to the details where clarity and consistency are critical.

Takeaway 3: AI is most useful for formulaic content

AI is at its best where patterns are easily identifiable, translating most content to a satisfactory standard. In reality, your persuasive and journalistic texts aren’t formulaic. Your business’ tone of voice and messages are unique and a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t cut it a lot of the time. Human oversight is therefore critical to ensure that your document or marketing copy is not only accurate, but also tailored to your audience.

Moving with the times shouldn’t mean compromising on quality – striking the right balance between AI and human language expertise is essential. Do you have a project you need help with? Get in touch with our team and request a free quote here.

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