Podcasts
7 C’s of text types where humans translate best #2: ‘C’ is for Compliant
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In this next episode of his mini-podcast series on key factors to consider beforehand when procuring translation for your business, our MD, Andrew looks at the 2nd of the 7 ‘C’s of premium content types, where an exclusively AI translation approach can lead to problems down the line.
Find the transcript below for #2 of the 7 text types where humans translate best: ‘C’ is for Compliant
When your content is legal or highly regulated it will need to carrying the relevant authority. So don’t leave it up to the AI!! I’m talking stuff like Food & drink packaging information (including allergen lists!), or Pharmaceutical patient information leaflets or Health & Safety emergency response plans.
If the source texts are written clearly and plainly in English you may be ok with AI. But what if there are errors? A simple ‘no’ in the wrong place, or an unfortunate omission, or even a slight mistranslation of a food ingredients list could be disastrous. And don’t forget the LLMs are known to ‘hallucinate’ adding random and unexpected words, phrases or even sentences into the translation. At best this causes strange and annoying non-sequitors, but worst case there could be serious corporate risk implications.
So far I’ve talked about consumer-facing texts. But what about regulatory breaches arising from submissions to official bodies? Your product and licence applications will sometimes take you hours or even days to complete, so why risk a silly mistranslation letting you down. You need to maximise your chances of success at the first hurdle, rather than getting bogged down with corrections and resubmissions.
Don’t wing it with AI, get a human translator with competence and expertise in your subject area to check it through thoroughly. And be prepared on occasion for this to take longer than expected.
In my next podcast I’ll tell you about text type #3 of the 7 ‘C’s: ‘C’ is for Culturally Sensitive.
Thanks for listening!