Using new language technologies and machine translation
Read about the Translation Bureau’s approach to and advice on new language technologies and machine translation.
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To use or not to use machine translation, that is the question
The free machine translation tools offered on the Internet are fast and easy to use, and they produce impressive results. However, they do have drawbacks that you should keep in mind:
- they produce meaning errors that are sometimes difficult to detect, including details like gender bias (for example, assuming that a doctor is a man)
- they don’t take into account the cultural context or target audience
- they don’t know specialized vocabulary and don’t take terminology preferences into account
- they can’t resolve inconsistencies in the text being processed
- their servers are often located outside the country and may store the information that is provided to them, which is a threat to confidentiality
That’s why the Translation Bureau recommends that you use these machine translation tools only if:
- the information isn’t protected or classified
- the subject isn’t specialized
- the potential presence of translation errors won’t have any consequences, including non-compliance with the Official Languages Act
- the output won’t be distributed or will be professionally revised before being distributed
You can pay to buy and “train” a tool to deliver customized machine translations and ensure the security of your data. But be aware that, in addition to the expense and effort required to set up the tool, you need to devote time and resources to training it continuously to maintain its effectiveness. In addition, professional revision is always recommended if the output will be distributed, since even trained machine translation tools make mistakes.
Are you part of the Government of Canada? Keep it simple: call on the Translation Bureau! Whether you’re looking for effortless translation services that combine technological efficiency with human expertise, or you want to have the machine translations produced by your own tools revised, the Translation Bureau helps you reach for quality.
New language technologies at the Translation Bureau
Despite advances in technology, support from language specialists remains essential to ensure the quality of a translation and compliance with the Official Languages Act. That’s why the Translation Bureau combines the power of technology with the talent of its highly skilled employees to efficiently produce high-quality translations.
The Translation Bureau does much more than just use language technologies:
- it curates its toolkit with care, using the best data and the right terminology to train each tool
- thanks to its close ties to the language industry, it keeps on top of the latest advances in technology and acquires the most promising new tools on the market
- it makes sure that the tools it uses meet security requirements for data transmission and storage
- it deftly selects which tools and methods to use and combine for each project to achieve top-tier results
- it draws on the knowledge and skills of its linguistic and tech teams to guarantee the quality of the final product
As the Government of Canada’s centre of excellence in linguistic services and the exclusive employer of translators, terminologists and interpreters in the core public administration, the Translation Bureau puts its know-how at the disposal of federal organizations looking for an easy way to make the most of human expertise and technological efficiency.
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