Technophobia has been part of the global consciousness since the Industrial Revolution. From workers worrying about getting displaced by factory machines to modern musings about a future robotic takeover, humans have mixed feelings about automation. As technology has improved, translation demand has increased, and machine translation has become readily accessible.
Google lets us click a button and read a website in another language. Or we can paste foreign text into a field and instantly get the gist. However, the result is not always clear, and many of us have received messages like this one: “For us you want to keep in connect?” And at least as frustrating, we’re not sure of the accuracy of the translated messages we send.
Depending on the circumstance, the lack of clarity may be acceptable. Oftentimes there can be zero tolerance for ambiguity or doubt. In the case of pharmaceutical, medical, legal, and business text, the consequences of bad communication can be costly, or in a worst case scenario, even deadly. Of course, most businesses do not deal in life-and-death transactions, so not every translation job requires human attention at every step. Many fall somewhere in between. For example, if you machine translate a document, you probably still want a capable translator to review or edit it.
Machines can do amazing work, from pinpointing disease to flying us around the world, but they ultimately must be controlled by humans. And communication is even trickier because its purpose is to relay meaning and create understanding—all between people.
There can be a happy marriage between human and machine—not in the man-dates-his-cellphone sense, but by realizing when machine translation is appropriate and when communication requires a human touch.
We don’t expect machine translation to provide full translation services any more than we would expect a Roomba to perform all the duties of a housekeeper. Each is essentially a tool that can tackle certain, specific duties under human supervision.
Machine translation can be good for quick intercompany communications or help desk support when translating numerous questions from global customers on a daily basis. However, when publishing customer materials online or in product information, a company needs to protect its global brand with a solution like Verbingo. This platform allows project managers to easily customize translation projects and to simply blend human and machine translation.
Often it makes sense to opt for a machine-human translation hybrid, meaning the initial machine translation is proofed, edited, and humanized by a person. A recent New York Times article, A Freelance Career, Found in Translation, addresses the challenges even professional human translators face when trying to match subtleties and nuances of language. Such nuances are not “understood” by computers. So although, by definition, automation is fast and convenient, the savings must be weighed against the cost of getting the message wrong.
So how do you know what kind of translation services you need? Here are some basic guidelines:
Machine Translation: For short, simple one-time communication or text with content that has no or low financial and legal risk.
Machine/Human Hybrid: For longer, more complex documents and text. Content is of low financial and legal risk.
Human Translation: For long, detailed, or complex text and documents. Appropriate any time accuracy is essential or there is legal or financial liability.
If you have questions about which solution is best for your translation project, please feel free to ask us at info@verbatimsolutions.com or 1-800-573-5702.
