In the age of digitization, businesses are expanding rapidly into global markets to secure a competitive advantage. In this race of competition, every enterprise is seeking to get an edge over others. Likewise, in the localization industry, every language service provider platform or professional translation agency is seeking Machine Translation services to have quick results.
Machine-Translation Services
Machine Translation (MT) is a specific technology designed to get translation automatically from one language to another on the basis of a specific set of algorithms. It is basically a step to move forward in translation by traditional methods. Machine translation does not involve human interference in the translating process.
It is impossible to negate the importance of Machine translation. With its advanced methodology, MT saves money and time. But unlike any other process, it is a double-edged sword. The translation which is done by MT still needs human approval before making it final. Because, when the new content string is matched with the already existing content, translation is done automatically
Pros of Machine Translation
Many professional translation agencies are using MT for speeding up the translation process. The more appealing advantages of MT are as follows:
Improves Consistency
Translation engines can also be customized concerning the respective customized terms. It helps to enhance the consistency of your translated documents. For instance, a computer program can be trained to use the same term for a similar concept. This is how you can improve consistency and can keep the company’s voice intact while working with multiple linguistics.
Multiple Content can be Translated
Machines are made to make human work easier and efficient. Along with it, not every human can translate or have expertise in every domain. Humans have limitations also. But machines can deal with a variety of content of different dimensions. It does not matter if it is a legal document or medical. Also, it saves the budget for enterprises to hire translators of every domain.
Speed Saves Time
As the saying and reality go,” time is a precious commodity.” And the functionality of machine translation saves a lot of time by enhancing the speed of translating the content. Because its advanced engines can handle thousands of documents at one time. That is why it speeds effectively and is scalable.
Cost-effective Technology
Apart from being cost-effective, Machine translation does not let you hire human translators again and again. It does the work of translators, all the translators have to do is to give a final flow.
Fast Turnaround time
Machine translation can give a lot of content at one time. What if you have a large volume of work and do not have enough human translators. In this situation, MT is the fastest and best option. This technology will provide you with your desired tasks in a fast turnaround time.
Cons of Machine Translation
Along with the advantages, there are also some drawbacks of machine translation. Some of the cons of MT are as follows:
Unable to Translate Context Wise
Localization is not merely a translation. It is quite a long and complicated task. In this perspective, MT only does the translation but not the contextual-based translation. Because machines are not humans. They are unable to understand the context behind any case. This is the drawback of this advanced technology that it still needs human translators to give the final blow. If you do that translation without going into the context, the result could be disastrous like what happened with KFC and Pepsi in China.
Accuracy of the Content
The very basic purpose of translation is understanding with respect to correctness. Correctness is the essential element of any kind of content. It should not lose its pact at any cost. But machine translation sometimes loses the capacity to word correct language translation.
Hidden Secrets
Revising and reviewing translated content can increase unexpected time, cost, and effort. Because MT only does the word-for-word translation. It does not translate according to context. So, Companies have to hire native and human translators along with it. For this reason, it increases time, cost, and effort.
Dilute Brand Marketing
There is a possibility that MT can dilute your brand image and marketing. Because the word-for-word translation and subtitling might be unable to provide a clear message to the audience.
Ending Note
In a nutshell, it is quite safe to say that technological advancement has helped the world to make progress by leaps and bounds. Likewise, MT is another milestone in the achievement of the world’s progress. It has numerous pros and cons. MT has made the translation process easier, more time, and cost-effective. On the other hand, Machine translation services is unable to give contextual-wise translation and it finds difficulty in giving accurate translation nuances and specific grammatical terms. All in all, like every process, it is a double-edged sword. Professional translation companies can make the best use of it by getting advantages from it.
