AI is changing the way we work with language, but can it ever replace human translators? From cultural nuance to context, machines still miss what makes words meaningful. In the most recent episode of Creator Talks, translator Isabelle shares her perspective on the future of translation in the age of AI.
“I mostly work with translation & marketing agencies. They tend to contact you by email with more information about the project. For example: the language combination, the word count, the deadline and the document ofcourse. Sometimes they also send you glossaries or the tone of voice of the company.”
“Two years ago I started noticing all of the translation jobs were MTPE-projects. Machine Translation Post Editing means that the document is translated by AI, but a human translator checks and edits it. Nowadays you can only find job offers like that or offers to train AI.”
“It is not the job I’d like to do, because it’s a completely different job. It’s not translating, it’s proofreading. People think it’s easier to proofread AI-generated text, but it’s the contrary because AI is not consistent. Translation is also about research, you have to look for the right words. So if you find the right word for something, you stick to it. AI does not do that.”
“A specific part of translation is localization. While translating is converting a text from one language to another, localizations means you have to take cultural nuances into account. Like religious beliefs, currencies, the right notation of the date, …”
Do you want to know more about the translation craft? Find out in 👉 this podcast episode with Isabelle.
