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Regulations and terms & conditions Semantix * Search * Jobs * Log in * English English + Dansk Dansk + Norsk Norsk + Suomi Suomi + Svenska Svenska * Toggle navigation Menu * Translations + Get a quote/order o Business o Contract customer + All services + Industries and text types o Advertising and marketing o Annual reports o Banking and finance o GDPR translation o Legal o Medicine and medical technology o Public sector o Software o Technology o Tenders o Websites + Machine translation + Proofreading + Terminology + Layout – DTP + We write your texts + Frequently asked questions * Interpreting + Interpreting services o Business interpreting o Conference interpreting o On-site interpreting o Sight translation o Telephone interpreting o Video interpreting * Language training + Competence Analysis + Intercultural Communication * Technical solutions + Translation portal + Secure machine translation + Translation connectors o Episerver o inRiver o Paligo o WordPress * About us + Semantix in brief + Mission and business concept + Group management + Board of Directors + Trust Center + GDPR and Information Security o Information Security Policy and Guidelines for Suppliers o Privacy Notice o Privacy Policy + Organisation + Our history + Our social responsibility + Press Room + Procurement * Contact + Stockholm + Gothenburg + Uppsala + Malmö + Umeå + Helsinki + Oslo + Stavanger + Aarhus + Alicante + Copenhagen + London + Vejle * Translations sub menu toggler + Get a quote/order o Business o Contract customer + All services + Industries and text types o Advertising and marketing o Annual reports o Banking and finance o GDPR translation o Legal o Medicine and medical technology o Public sector o Software o Technology o Tenders o Websites + Machine translation + Proofreading + Terminology + Layout – DTP + We write your texts + Frequently asked questions * Interpreting sub menu toggler + Interpreting services o Business interpreting o Conference interpreting o On-site interpreting o Sight translation o Telephone interpreting o Video interpreting * Language training sub menu toggler + Competence Analysis + Intercultural Communication * Technical solutions sub menu toggler + Translation portal + Secure machine translation + Translation connectors o Episerver o inRiver o Paligo o WordPress * About us sub menu toggler + Semantix in brief + Mission and business concept + Group management + Board of Directors + Trust Center + GDPR and Information Security o Information Security Policy and Guidelines for Suppliers o Privacy Notice o Privacy Policy + Organisation + Our history + Our social responsibility + Press Room + Procurement * Contact sub menu toggler + Stockholm + Gothenburg + Uppsala + Malmö + Umeå + Helsinki + Oslo + Stavanger + Aarhus + Alicante + Copenhagen + London + Vejle * Jobs * Search Language * + Dansk Dansk + English English + Norsk Norsk + Suomi Suomi + Svenska Svenska ____________________ (BUTTON) The truth about machine translation today The truth about machine translation today * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn “Automatic translation of all texts in all the world’s languages and automatic interpreting of spoken speech is here! The language barriers will come down within ten years!” Articles making such claims have recently been seen in such prominent publications as the Wall Street Journal, the International Business Times and Forbes. It all sounds like science fiction – something straight out of Star Wars, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Star Trek. Published 2/1/2017 Not too many years ago, such assertions would have been dismissed as nonsense. It worries me to say that these claims are now viewed as highly believable, and even as accepted truths. Promising the earth Machine translation promises instant free translation. These three words are enough to get anyone who runs an international business salivating. The truth is that translation and interpreting have long been seen as problematic and expensive necessary evils that crop up when all you want to do is deliver a product. They are seen as unnecessarily troublesome issues that should ideally be solvable without having to spend too much time and money. So it’s not surprising that when offered a free technical solution with the shortest lead times, some people get a little over excited and tend not to take too critical an approach. The reality is, of course, a little less perfect and wonderful. Unfortunately, the many article writers and technophiles (myself included) who preach about the benefits of the new technology have failed to convey the circumstances under which machine translation works best and the situations where there are still a number of problems and drawbacks. As a result, the businesses that are attracted to machine translation sometimes have blind faith in what it can deliver. The importance of realistic expectations A number of unrealistic expectations about machine translation crop up time and time again. I believe that taking a closer look at these could save us all – buyers and suppliers alike – from future problems and disappointments. Here are a few common inaccurate expectations: 1. Machine translation is free. In some cases, it can be. Take Google Translate, for example. However, businesslike, professional machine translation isn’t free – although it can be much cheaper than paying a human translator. A language technician still needs to build and maintain the translation engine, and to be paid for the work involved. A really good machine-translated text will also have been quality assured by humans. So machine translation does still involve a cost. 2. Machine translation produces good translations. Well, that’s almost true, but of course it depends on many different factors. Machine translation usually produces good translations, but it’s important to understand that you can never fully rely on the accuracy of a text that has been machine translated without human involvement. You should also remember that what ‘good’ means varies for different texts, target groups and situations. You also have to weigh up the risks against the opportunities. The immediate risks associated with machine translations of work e-mails about business strategies pale in comparison with the risks associated with machine translating the instructions for a defibrillator. 3. Machine translation will make human translators completely redundant. Absolutely incorrect. See the previous point. Human translators will always be needed. However, using machine translation will enable us to translate more material, which is a positive thing in view of globalisation. 4. Everything can be translated using machine translation. The statement itself might be true, but you probably shouldn’t translate everything using machine translation without human involvement. Instead, you should be extremely selective about which texts are machine translated to get the right quality for the right type of text. However, machine translation can almost always be used as an additional tool alongside human translation. 5. The language barriers will come down within ten years (or similar statements). IBM made this claim as early as 1955 when they built their first translation engines. With the benefit of hindsight, it might be worth taking such statements with a good pinch of salt. The revolution is already here – long live machine translation! Despite everything, there’s no doubt that machine translation has already revolutionised our industry and will continue to change it. If we extrapolate what today’s technology can do for us a few years into the future, we end up not far from the science fiction scenarios I mentioned at the beginning of this article. But we need to keep our expectations realistic. Automatic translation and interpreting is likely to be of better quality in the future, but will never be perfect in all respects. Large quantities of information will certainly be translated and interpreted using machines in future, but at the same time we will always need human interpreters and translators. Semantix’s mission Semantix’s mission is to contribute towards international business and a multicultural society. For us, making use of modern technology is clearly the key to achieving this. We will therefore continue to invest in technology and to develop it. In doing so, it is important that we help others not to trust blindly but to see with open eyes the realistic and wonderful potential of the emerging developments within translation technology. Categories Latest blogposts * Quo vadis, language services industry? Digital revolution, transformation, disruptive technologies – 21st century buzzwords that seem to permeate every walk of life, and the language services industry is no exception. Similarly, value creation and customer experience appear to be at the core of every self-respecting company’s operations. What does it all mean for the LSPs in general, and for Semantix in particular? Leni Vapaavuori 9/11/2018 * How many people can read your online content? With half of the world’s population now online* and as globalisation takes hold, businesses can no longer afford to ignore the value of translated content. And with so many new markets up for grabs, why would you want to? Malin Ljungberg 4/18/2018 * 4 ways to localize your website To conquer the world, you need to have your website translated into several languages. There are different ways to proceed. Before you choose one of them, here are a few things you need to know about the most common solutions to localise your website. Christophe Eyraud 3/22/2018 * 9 beautiful words describing love Did you know that the Dutch have a word to describe the warm feeling of being with your loved ones? Not the easiest concept to translate into English, is it? Here are nine heart-warming words from around the world that can’t be translated. Malin Ljungberg 2/14/2018 Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Common sense advisory * Press * Jobs * Blog +46 770 45 74 00 info@semantix.se This website uses cookies We use cookies to improve your experience when visiting our website and to personalise content and ads. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website. Read more about our cookies and how to remove them here. I accept