How AI Can Ensure Faster and More Affordable Translations

At Ciklopea, we believe that we should all replace fear with curiosity and think about how we can leverage the power of AI and machine translation to optimize our resources, save money, and direct attention to the ways we can utilize technology to work smarter when it comes to translations.

We already wrote about the intriguing history of machine translation but today, we want to dive deeper into the way you can benefit from hiring an LSP that relies on AI and machine translation.

As technology advances, so do our translation practices

Standing still won’t stop the world from spinning around you. You just might get dizzy in the process. The same goes for important advancements in technology. Early adopters always have a competitive edge, so it’s up to you to choose whether you’ll adapt or deny the reality.

We at Ciklopea always choose the first option because we believe that technology, people, and processes are at the core of our services. When it comes to applying AI in translation, it probably sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. If you have the right tech, skills, and experience, you can incorporate machine translation into the translation process fairly easily.

The truth is, machine translation can save up to 60% of translators’ time. This means two things for you as a client: 1) you will get translated content faster and 2) you will optimize your costs.

However, it’s important to be crystal clear here: when we say “machine translation”, we don’t mean pasting your content into Google Translate and sending it back to you. Why would anybody pay for that?

We’re talking about using special technology that does the “heavy lifting” for our translators so that they can do human post-editing afterward and ensure that the content is properly localized. In return, you can launch your product on the international market faster.

When using AI translations and human post-editing is a good idea

In situations where you want to suddenly scale a project (i.e. pivoting from expanding to two markets to expanding to four markets), then it makes sense to include machine translation combined with human post-editing because this gives you the upper hand when it comes to speed. You certainly don’t want to lose any revenue by being late to market.

Another scenario in which it makes sense to rely on AI includes translation projects that include repetitive content. These can be anything from manuals and user guides to privacy policies and other uniform legal documentation (e.g. GDPR and Cookie Policies for EU citizens). So if you need these kinds of materials reproduced quickly in multiple languages, using machine translation significantly cuts down the time needed to translate these kinds of documents.

Plus, with AI in the form of a translation memory, any risk of inconsistency is reduced by automatically filling in the translated content where the repetition occurs. This allows translators to focus on maximizing translation quality.

When you should skip AI translation

In our experience, machine translation cannot be fully utilized when translating marketing content, branded materials, or long-form SEO articles. For example, SEO content requires knowledge of on-page optimization and at least basic keyword analysis skills.

Marketing and branded materials might even require transcreation because it’s important to adapt to different locales while still preserving the look and feel of the brand. This is something in which machines tend to fall short and where human creativity is still necessary.

Balance costs by working with the right LSP that knows AI translations

The main benefit of being open to machine translation post-editing (MTPE) is balancing costs and creating a win-win situation for yourself.

By allowing your chosen team of translators to work with machine translation and AI, you can cut costs where human post-editing is sufficient. Then simply allocate your remaining resources to projects that are more complex. These might include tricky legal and financial translations, software, or other tech product localizations that are too complex or sensitive to be entrusted to machines.

At Ciklopea, we are big believers in the combined strength of people and AI tech, and every project can benefit from it. The only question is – to what extent?

For a nice overview of the AI translations and MTPE services we offer, we invite you to visit this page.

If you’d like to discuss your project or ask any questions about the way we work with our customers, feel free to schedule a discovery call. We’re always happy to hear from you!