#1 Reason to Hire a Human Translator

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#1 Reason to Hire a Human Translator (and a couple more)

The #1 reason to hire a human translator is simple (and I’m not trying to be facetious). It’s because AI – the thing used in all online and computer translation programs – is NOT human.

If you find yourself in agreement already, please leave us a comment below!

Artificial Intelligence

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, is actually not intelligent. The name was given based on its ability to “learn.” This so-called learning, in a nutshell, is a complicated program that tells it to look for certain patterns. But intelligence, as defined throughout most of history, requires the ability to think independently, which is something AI can’t do.

AI, then, is a misnomer. It implies that something created by humans can be sentient, or self aware. The reality is, no computer or robot ever made is even aware that it exists! It functions solely according to its programing. It might seem intelligent, but that is a trick, something like what the magicians who entertain us use.

In other words, let’s say a robot says, “I know that I exist. I am self-aware. I have feelings, too.”

Those are replies that have been programed into it to use in response to certain kinds of input. If someone asks a robot a recognized question, the robot or chatbot will provide what seems like an intelligent answer. But if an unrecognized question is asked, the robot cannot answer it.

The creators of chatbots, often used for website-based customer service, have developed a very smart workaround for this. Good quality chatbots and robots will respond to a question they are not familiar with with something like, “Hmm. I’ll have to think about that. Would you like to speak to someone in that department?” Then if you reply in the affirmative, it will transfer you to a real human being who can think independently.

A Real Problem

This problem is the #1 reason to hire a human translator. It is a real problem for AI to do quality translation work. Language is an extremely complex problem.

Let’s compare language to math:

The most commonly used math in our world is what we call “Base 10.” It uses a total of ten digits, from 0 to 9. Everything is counted in groups of 10. We count 1 to 10, then we count 11 to 20, then 21 to 30, eventually reaching 100, and so on.

Yet the number of possible combinations of these ten digits is infinite. But while the number of possible combinations is infinite, the number of operations we regularly do, even at the highest level of math, is not.

With language, on the other hand, the possibilities are even greater.

Let’s just take English as an example. The English alphabet uses 26 letters, not ten. That creates an even greater number of possible combinations than only 10. But that’s not the half of it.

There is a finite number of English words, although that number increases every year. But imagine, given that there are almost 200,000 English words in current use, how many possible combinations there are! In fact, there are many different ways to say many things!

AI doesn’t know this. It is programed, even in the best programs, to offer a very limited translation from one language to another. It doesn’t understand anything about culture, which is essential for a good quality translation. It doesn’t understand color, or emotion, or joking, or idioms, or just about all the things we take for granted in our daily speech.

AI like Google Translate and many others simply does what it is programed to do. It offers word for word, and sometimes as it “learns” more, phrase for phrase translations. But they are so well known for inaccuracy that a whole new sector of comedy has arisen using the often hilarious results.

This is fine for people in business needing to get information from someone in a foreign country, but it is often frustrating, and definitely does not provide a translation that is even close to the way someone would speak in their own native language.

The Solution

The solution is to hire a human translator. The best translator to hire is someone who can read the source language, understand at least a bit about the culture of the source language, and who is a native speaker of the language being translated to. It is especially important that the translator has a high degree of proficiency in their language.

When you hire a real, skilled, human translator, you will get real value and your clients will be much more likely to take you seriously. A human translator can never be replaced by a machine. This is the #1 reason to hire a human translator!

Please offer your insight in the comments, below!