The commonest discussion topics today revolve around artificial intelligence, Machine Learning and any other technology in the future that could be suitable replacements for human resources in workplaces. It appears that one key area of importance when it comes to automation are automated translation services such as machine translation which is one of the largest driving force behind new technology development.

Google is seriously trying to find a way of making the internet easier for multilingual use, such as the presence of Google Translate, a free, easy to use automatic translator. 

Microsoft is a keen rival to Google Translate as it is also a free app for personal use and is available in more languages. It translates text, conversations, voice, camera photographs and screenshots. It is also possible to download languages to be used as an offline translator which is not only free but is great for the traveller. 

Why machine learning won’t completely replace human translators

Machine learning translators do not have their own inbuilt intelligence. They can only do what humans have inputted into them. They are not able to create anything new only things they know about already. However, those promoting these translation tools are marketing them as if they are the true replacements of human translators. 

In reality, they are really virtual assistants not leaders when it comes to being asked to do a translation task. So far the automatic translation platform hasn’t even got as far as helping human translators with 50 percent of their work. There are far too many inaccuracies in machine translation tools for them to be used on their own. They cannot be told how to translate every idiom as there are far too many of them.

The future of machine learning for German translations

Automated German translation services are expected to improve and will begin to play a more significant part in any translation project due to improvements in machine learning. The technology is likely to become more accurate so that basic sentence translations will be more accurate as well.  However, even if machine learning gets better at learning German language rules, this doesn’t mean it will be able to cope with the fine nuances in the language which are important to know about when translating.

Machine learning depends on predetermined rules in order to function well while German human translators have to constantly break or manipulate rules so that they can create an exact meaning in the different language. This final part of the translation process is a key to the success of any German translation project.

The dual impact of machine learning

One of the stumbling blocks for German translation services is not so much the speed and accuracy of a translation, but the speed of efficiently handling work flow. Machine learning can increase the speed of writing and receiving emails, the collection of the data, the building of glossaries and many other tasks important to the German translation industry where human input is not so important. Even before the German translation begins, machine learning may speed up every translation project, making it more cost effective for the translator and the translation services.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at a rapid place but genuine AI is considered to be a system that has the capability to process cultural, moral and creative aspects of a translation. This is the method that human translators have always had the ability to use. The technology giants are doing their very best to create a robot that can use AI in the same way as the human brain. 

They are not doing this for translators but for the translation industry which would prefer to be fully automated and doesn’t have to depend on the human translator to get a job done. There is still a long road to go before AI can successfully produce a translation that competes favourable with the skills of a human translator.

Whatever happens in the future to AI machine learning it will help to empower humans in the translation industry so that they can get more done at a faster pace with little or no loss of human translators. So far, a total AI takeover isn’t likely to happen and that is when it becomes the main type of intelligence in use on the Earth, with robots or computers taking full control of the Earth in the absence of human influence. 

There are some possible future scenarios, like total replacement of the human workforce, a sort of robot uprising like the ones portrayed in science fiction novels or movies.  Some public icons, like Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking, have advocated that research should be conducted into precautionary measures that ensure any future super intelligent machines will still be under the control of humans. 

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