Many organisations are wondering whether machine translation (MT) can take the place of human translators in a world where technology is advancing rapidly. The speed and accessibility of tools such as DeepL and Google translators have increased significantly. While helpful, they still have significant drawbacks, and this is where human expertise is crucial.

Speed and availability of machine translation

Machine translation is the best option for quickly understanding foreign texts. It is useful for internal communication, emails and situations where speed is of the essence, as it can process large amounts of content almost instantly. Artificial intelligence and neural network technology make it possible to improve tools such as DeepL and Google Translate has made translations easier than they were a decade ago.

Human translation: accuracy and cultural nuances

Translation is not just about converting words, but rather about understanding the context as well as the purpose of the source text in order to convey its meaning accurately to the target audience. A human translator ensures :
– Accuracy in context where errors in translation have serious consequences such as legal, medical or technical translations.
– Cultural adaptation in the translation of idioms, humour and cultural sensitivities where machine translation are in most of the case are not well done or even understood.
–Consistency of style: human translators adapt tone of voice. They also adapt terminology. They do this to match the brand or context.

The best of both worlds
In practice, many professional translators today use machine translation but, they also use human post-editing. The machine helps to have a draft of the source text and then the skilled professional translator revises to ensure accuracy, nuance and quality. This hybrid approach saves time while maintaining reliability.

Conclusion:
Machine translation is a powerful tool but, it cannot replace the critical thinking, cultural awareness and expertise of a professional translator. For organisations that want to protect their brand image and communicate effectively across cultural boundaries, human translation is still relevant.

KUMI Gifty ( French -English Translator )

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References

TAUS (2022). The State of Machine Translation: Current Use and Future Trends.

European Commission (2021). Study on the Use of Machine Translation in Public Services.

Juan Antonio Pérez-Ortiz, Mikel L. Forcada & Felipe Sánchez-Martínez (2022). How neural machine translation works

Kiraly, D. (2014). A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education. Routledge.