Humans or Robots? Who is Best Equipped to Handle your Translation Services?

One vs the other or together?

Many organizations and businesses including the travel and tourism industry, eCommerce industry, finance, social media platforms, news industry, as well as gaming industry require translation services. As a result, there is a huge demand for translators. With advancements in technology, several translation services are easily available that are competing with human translators in efficiency and cost. There is a constant debate in the industry regarding cost-cutting. As a result, human translation services are competing with machines.
Here are the pros and cons of both for you to decide…

Machine translation
Several programs are used to translate speech to text and from one language to another. However, every language has nuances that are understood by native speakers or people who have in-depth knowledge of the language. Unfortunately, that is not something a machine can differentiate, yet.
The advantages of using machine translators are:
– You get an instant translation that too in several languages available with ease. This comes in handy, especially for tourists.
– The tools for translation can be easily available online, usually, free of cost.
– The level of accuracy is improving with time, thereby improving precision.
The disadvantages of using machine translators are:
– Usually, machine translators convert sentences word by word. Any bilingual individual will know that that is not how translations work. Thus, many times, using machines for translation results in inconsistencies.
– The underlying meaning of the text is often not captured by the machine translators. This includes any metaphors, tone, puns, etc.
– Inability to understand the nuances of the language can result in costly errors that can cause loss of contract, business, or life.

Human translators
Humans who have studied the language are well versed with the distinctions between the words, their meaning, and usages. Additionally, being familiar with adages, idioms, and commonly used slang can make them better translators as they can effectively communicate the message as per the language in demand.
The advantages of using human translators are:
• Not only do you get experts in the language, but also in specific areas like legal, medical, industrial, etc. This is extremely important as there is a huge demand for the translation of medical and legal documents.
• They can understand the context in which the document is written and can adequately translate it.
The disadvantages of using human translators are:
• The services are costly and require more time compared to the machine.

Wrapping It Up
There can never be a comparison between man and machine. A machine can only be as good as the instructions it is provided with. Knowing the context in which a word is being used is important to efficiently translate it, which is not accurately possible with machines. However, if instead of accuracy, time matters, opting for machine translators is advised.
If you require accuracy while translating the documents, then hiring a human translator is recommended. Though they prove costly, in the long run, the investment is paid for with good work. Both machines and humans can work in tandem to provide efficient, timely, and cost-effective translational services.