Free AI translators - is it a new opportunity or the end of the translation profession?
The 2023 and 2024 will be remembered as the years that truly changed the game in the translation industry. The rise of powerful machine translation platforms offering to translate texts create captions, and even voice translators caused excitement to many users and dread among professional translators and interpreters. I do not want to add to a discussion about the imperfections of AI or repeat that it brings the quality down alongside the fees which has an impact on real people.
AI translators – what is it?
People with access to the internet have been enjoying easy real-time translations from their phones or other devices. Most popular tools like Google Translate have been a lifesaver when trying to buy a ticket or translate a menu when traveling abroad. For these basic life situations, the online language translators are very helpful. In the end, it does not really matter if you think you ordered a parsnip in a Polish restaurant and what you get is parsley – in Polish, the word 'pietruszka’ refers to both parts of this vegetable (my English husband was shocked it is the same plant!).
Since the Tower of Babel, people dreamt of breaking the language barriers with accurate translation tools. Now, we have it… or do we?
The latest computational techniques in artificial intelligence translation focus on neural machine translation and it makes headways with its deep learning-based approach. I participated in some AI training and it was an interesting experience. I played only a small part but it gets me excited on one hand and at the same I can see first hand there is still a very long way to go. As a Polish-English translator and interpreter, I feel uneasy picking up mistakes made by the machine, but when I need to translate German, Czech, or Russian texts for my other projects, I happily use it with the full knowledge that the translation may be far from perfect.
Do online translators provide accurate translations?
It depends! Some translations look incredible, and they even look legit and unless you are a bilingual specialist in this particular field, you probably will not see the mistakes. Fast, accurate, and free may be a great soundbite but in reality, it may not be that simple. The translation technology looks impressive, but it still has a long way to go to be able to flawlessly and automatically translate writing in another language.
Machines and algorithms are only as good as the data they rely on. If the data is compromised, the results will be compromised. If ChatGPT relies on a database where most websites claim that the Earth is flat, it will produce a scientific article with references convincing us it is true. It is the sale with AI-powered translation software. The most common language pairs fare better in machine translation, the rare ones are not so good, and it is caused by the lack of data. It is not uncommon for machines to translate from a rare language to a popular one and then to another language. For example, it is unlikely to translate from Portuguese to Ukrainian directly but there will be the first translation from Portuguese to English and then from English to Ukrainian. More and more, artificial intelligence makes things up when it does not know the answer. It also includes online translation, and we may end up with Chinese whispers.
Do you trust a translator tool with your family, health, and money?
Free online offers are never truly free, are they? If we want to get a freebie, we give the companies our details such as an email address, date of birth, or card details (why do they ask for it, if it is supposed to be free?!). More often than not, the tech companies reserve the right to store our content, and we do not have much power to check what is happening with it. T&Cs of a free version of a popular translator app state 'the company reserves the right to perpetually store any content or processed content’. It does not matter when you order cocktails on a beach in Spain, but would you like to pay for a language translation with your Social Security Number, medical records, business contracts, or trade secrets? Is your security and privacy worth it?
Translation solution for researchers
The academic community is often expected to publish their research in a different language. After spending months studying and writing a research paper, it is very tempting to just copy and paste your text into a translator. Often, a scientific paper covers a narrow but in-depth description of phenomena. To bridge the language gap, artificial intelligence may not have enough data for a fast and accurate translation. It is unlikely to tailor the paper to a publication’s editorial requirements.
Conclusion
AI translation is good for:
simple texts,
structured texts,
getting a gist.
Not so good for:
rare pairs of languages,
confidential information,
expert materials.
Do you need a top-notch translation?
If you are looking for legally binding and secure Polish translations contact me at dorotawalker@gmail.com or arrange a meeting.