There are a number of reservations held by people who generally distrust and even downright dislike the takeover of technology in their personal and professional lives. Such people refuse to use the self-service checkouts in stores or the automatic deposit machines in banks and instead choose to deliberately shun machines in favor of being served by a human being.
It stands to reason, then, that artificial intelligence (AI) would be one of the scariest developments in the world of technology and although there are certainly exciting innovations currently being worked upon, these people most definitely have a point.
With this in mind, continue reading to learn of the top six dangers of using AI translations.
1. A Total Lack of Personalization
First and foremost, artificial intelligence has absolutely no way of understanding the individual needs of the client and subsequently tailoring the translated content into a piece of work that’s unique and personalized.
Everyone knows that the English language is packed full of nuances, subtexts, and double-meanings and as such, even the most advanced and highly developed AI can’t possibly hope to compete.
2. Issues Surrounding Privacy
To complete even a short translation task, artificial intelligence needs to collect and collate a huge amount of information and, more often than not, this data is almost exclusively derived from the internet.
As you’ll already be fully aware, not only should you rarely trust what you read on the internet yourself, but also consider the number of websites containing information written by an angry or enthusiastic hater or fan, which will always be biased.
This is why it’s strongly advisable, whether in the context of a private individual or a company, to deal with a professional translation business instead and take advantage of the leading international translation services from Brightlines.
3. A Complete Lack of Proper Localization
In terms of regional dialects and commonly used slang, for example in the case of Cockney rhyming slang, artificial intelligence will struggle to distinguish between climbing the stairs and clambering over a large pile of apples and pears.
This complete lack of localization is another serious danger of ever relying on artificial intelligence for translation and therefore, it is and always will be more accurate and more personable to utilize expert and experienced human translators.
4. Algorithmic Bias
Perhaps one of the biggest criticisms of AI translation is that of algorithmic bias. Essentially, the term algorithmic bias refers to the unfair and prejudice outcomes of hundreds and hundreds of algorithms within one program and as such, means AI translation simply isn’t viable, and it’s set to remain this way.
In a surreal move, the development of algorithmic bias exists in the first place due to the natural bias the developers, programmers and other human beings involved in the training and building of such algorithms in the first place. Another related contributor to algorithmic bias is the current modern world and social environment which informs every article, news report, and even image online.
A simple example of this would be if the key computer programmers of a specific AI translation software package was being entirely developed by white, single males. This would reflect the data and the subsequently produced translation.
5. Serious Language Issues
In fairness, the improvements in grammar, spelling, and punctuation in AI translations has improved, but there’s little research or indeed, little evidence, to show that there are any other improvements in the actual body of work produced.
Anyone who has ever studied English language can attest to the fact that, in both informal conversation and formal conversations alike, human beings don’t communicate with isolated and unconnected words and sentences.
A working example of just one of the endless ways in which AI translators simply can’t compete with human beings is when looking into the concept of irony and how imbedded satire irony is, while still remaining entirely independent and different at its core.
6. Flawed Translations of Official Documentation
The sixth and final most prevalent danger in even slightly relying on artificial intelligence for translations, either now or in the future, is the unreliable nature of the translated text itself.
Think about when you’re watching a YouTube video and switch the CC subtitles on while you’re multi-tasking; you’ll have already noticed many times how inaccurate and often downright hilarious translations the computer offers for what’s being said.
When you applying this extremely unreliable finished product to AI translations, it’s no wonder that human beings will always be superior over artificial intelligence.
