Is Automatic Translation Defensible?

Version Française

Admittedly, the question is somewhat contentious; but because we’re translators (and a fortiori a translation agency), criticizing the array of dubious automatic translation websites out there that take themselves seriously seems appropriate.

It’s also fair though to admit once and for all that automatic translation does have its uses in certain cases. Say an employee is surfing the web for their job. What’s more annoying than coming across a foreign language website and not knowing what it has to say? Should one hire a translator, pay them a fee and wait several days for the translation to come back so they can look at the information and finally decide that it isn’t useful after all?

In a case like this one, automatic translations can obviously be beneficial. The employee who doesn’t speak Korean, Swedish or Icelandic would certainly be happy to have some sort of translation available, even an approximate and grammatically butchered one, that at least gives them some sort of idea about the subject, however vague.

Another example might be when two people are chatting online but don’t speak the same language. How do you have a conversation with someone in China if you don’t know a single word of Mandarin? Automatic translation is clearly the easiest way. Sure it’s tedious, but would that stop the determined among us?

It’s easy to see that automatic online translators can be pretty useful for the capable Internet user who refuses to let language pose barriers in the only place that anyone can visit without a passport (censorship-afflicted countries excepted).

We also need to recognize in automatic online translation that its unique quality is at once its greatest hazard: it’s instantaneous!

And how could we not finish this entry up without mentioning human translation. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: inimitable, irreplaceable. The “machine” will never capture the irony, the subtext, the wordplay, the cultural references and hundreds of other linguistic subtleties; much less competently translate them into a target language. Any individuals or businesses wanting to address a foreign public have every interest in engaging a professional translator or agency; it’s an assurance of candour and respect that will always be valued for its benefits.

One last piece of advice: don’t forget that you can never properly judge the quality of a translation unless you yourself are bilingual. Not that bilingualism alone will guarantee quality; translation is a skill unto itself.