Translation technology – it comes in peace!
Translation technology, friend or foe? For sure, this may seem like a threat from outer space to the skilled translators and linguists out there, but we should be embracing this technology along with all the other advancements that make our daily lives easier.
With a planet-sized influx of information over the past few years about AI and Machine Translation and how it will threaten the likes of ALM Translations and all the professional translators that we use, it is no surprise to us that there is a great deal of assumption and confusion over the benefits. However, MT hasn’t taken over…..just yet…. and still can’t be used on marketing and creative content.
Take advantage
One major benefit is that Machine Translation can open doors to new horizons, enabling efficiencies, cost savings and improved speed to get translated content out there. Trained post-editors skillfully upcycle the customised output from a bespoke engine built specifically for your business. Used wisely and for the right documents, Machine Translation can ensure that all stakeholders are happy, translators and clients alike. MT comes in peace. Could MT fit in with your company’s translation needs?
Combined with other elements of a technology stack, we aim to ensure that the translation process is no longer a pain point for our customers. Your time is important, and you can’t get it back or gain more hours in a day unless you are in the Twilight Zone, then there might be a possibility! There are widgets, connectors and translation management systems invading everywhere. Every system can talk to every system, and if they can’t communicate, someone can create something that allows the “alien” system to do just that. By using these systems and taking the time to customise the workflow to specific requirements, the aims of automation are to save YOU time, YOU money and improve YOUR interaction with the translation workflow.
Harmonise
All translation technology can be linked and work in harmony and peace. Machine Translation can live side by side with translation memory software, ensuring that anything that has been translated and post edited is used as a priority. Your content is then recycled and discounted in the most efficient way. Any content not translated can then be Machine Translated and post edited, meaning you benefit from a double-pronged cost saving attack on translation cost invasions. Even your website and international take-over plans can benefit from automation and AI. From making contact with the linguists, extraction of updated content and dropping the text back into its original home – ‘abducted’ from the translation workflow memory – technology can be so seamlessly integrated, it’s as if the event never happened.
At ALM Translations, we are welcoming translation technology into our office and have been using it for a long time. However, progress does not happen overnight. We have to keep moving, pressing on and pushing forwards. It’s a bit scary sometimes, all this change. What if it’s not right? What if the investment doesn’t pay off? But we believe it’s a risk worth taking. We don’t want to be left floating in outer space, and we aim to take our customers on this very important journey – hand in hand (even if one of those hands has 4 fingers…).