By Sandeep Kumar
Will computer translations become commonplace in ten years or so? That assumption reminds me of this quote:
"Although it is not yet possible to insert a Russian book at one end and come out with an English book at the other, five, perhaps three years from now, inter-lingual meaning conversion by electronic process... may well be an accomplished fact."
This was said by Professor Leon Dostert, who headed up the Georgetown-IBM experiment in machine translation - in January 1954.
Computer translation is already commonplace and has been for many years. But there are still thousands of human translators making a living.
Automation has its limits
The level of translation automation sits on a scale, appropriate to the context and use of the translated text. You would not trust the translation of your company slogan to a machine. But equally, you would not want to face the time and cost of translating a database of repetitive product descriptions without some automated and computer-assisted translation.
In the future, as now, translators will work according to the requirement. At the most automated end they are redundant, but the uses for fully automated translation, although huge, do not account for anywhere near everything. There will always be material that cannot be trusted to automatic translation, where human translators will be needed.
Any content to be published needs to be revised and edited carefully. If you were to try automated translations for your marketing materials or website, the translations would at the very least need to be adapted for style, tone of voice, and address to the reader - as well as checked for daft errors.
The translator's role is shifting toward editing
The editing part of the translator's role becomes more of a focus as automation increases. The translator has to be bilingual, know the subject well, and be a great writer to do this job - which fits in with the traditional translator role pretty well.
Even with advanced machine translation and translation memory processes working together, there is still text that needs to be translated from scratch. For advertising texts, for literature, and for anything that involves artistic flair, the translator will still have the translation job.
So in the future, translators will translate, and will also edit and revise more than they do now - probably in online environments, by speech and dictation, and on a range of devices, supported by automation. Further, they will manage the translation process and technology, implement its application, and work out how to embed it at the point where people need to use it. All the MT technologies and service providers already offer widgets that do this on a small scale online, offering "in-page" translation in your browser, taking the translation to the place it is needed, on demand. Offline, we can believe the same principle will be followed in ways we can only currently imagine.
Why demand for human translators keeps growing
Technology has improved tremendously. Communication across the world can occur in a split second: you send an email now and the other party receives it the next second. With all these changes, business meetings may be multilingual, and you cannot expect to always use your mother tongue in current society.
Do you want to pick up a new language? That takes time - it is not a day's work to learn a new language, and consistent practice is needed. How many languages can you realistically pick up? Rather than spending so much time on it, why not get a translator to assist you?
You can hire a translator to assist you in a meeting, conference, or call, or even to guide you on a tour around a country. The translator's job is on the rise. Just talking about the USA, the number of translators rose from 49 thousand in 2013 to 53 thousand, and the statistic was expected to hit 92 thousand by 2022. The increasing trend is clear.
Today your colleague may speak the same language as you; tomorrow, perhaps not. Businesses are collaborating across the seas, and your business partner may be from China, India, or anywhere in the world. How can you attend a meeting if you cannot speak their language? Do you want to be constantly seen on your phone looking up translations? That may cost you a job opportunity. Rather than that, why not hire a translator who can assist you? It shows your professionalism.
As the world shrinks, a lot of jobs are affected - but some jobs prosper because of it. People are flying more often, which gives rise to opportunities for translators, who are there to guide you and help you communicate.
