Can machine translators replace human translators?

It is a much-known fact that in this modern age, technology is replacing almost everything. we do not need papers and pens, as software’s are here to replace them, we do not need physical books because of the advent of e-books and pdfs. everything is revolutionizing. From the education industry to the corporate world. AI and machine learning have taken over everything. The same goes for the translation industry. language industries are no different. In fact, automatic translation services and machine translation are some of the biggest driving forces behind the development of such technologies.

Can a robot/machine replace a human mind?

well, that’s tricky! We do speak about AI conquering the world but do you think it’s gonna happen anytime soon? I don’t think so. an ideal ai machine won’t be just capable of following a set of instructions programmed by an engineer but will include a mix of cognitive thinking and creativity. Although science promises to reach a level of development where true ai will soon be in action, it's difficult, nearly impossible for a human to create a human mind. as the human mind makes decisions not just by analyzing the visible aspects but also by considering the hidden factors. a machine can only perform a set of rules. That's the reason, automated machines can never overcome the human brain and its ability. The machine not just lacks in accuracy but also lacks in the latest updates. updates can only happen if there is some individual working on it on a daily basis. otherwise, it will provide the same old prototyped functions with no upgradation. 

Automation in the translation industry

Machine translation hits that sweet spot of cost and speed, offering a really quick way for brands to translate their documents at scale without much overhead. but, that doesn’t mean it's always applicable.

Speaking of human translation, it is applicable for projects that need extra care and research. Also, a machine/AI cannot detect certain words that easily unless they are fed in the machine and there are many issues because of which human intervention is a must.

Reasons why the machine cannot replace human in the translation industry 

1. Creativity in writing - machines can only provide a formulated translation that is programmed by an engineer but the human mind is very creative and can come up with different jargon and vocabulary to enhance the translation. Human translation is preferable for growing businesses as development comes through creativity and knowledge.
2. Accuracy in understanding the context - machines do not understand homographs due to which there will be a lot of ambiguity in the translation. so the translation will be dependent on the context of the sentence. The most significant benefit of human translation is the accuracy of the content they can churn out. So for big live projects, human translation is prioritized.
3. Reliability for big businesses - for high-priority content, a reliable source of translation plays a huge role. One can’t just rely on machine translation. So to not goof up with the content, human translation or proofreading is essential. There could be a huge margin of error if the context of the content is not taken properly and is irregularly translated by the machine.
4. Intricacies of linguistics - despite machine translation, there has to be the involvement of people as without proofreading it is not recommended to directly rely on machine translation and it involves almost equivalent time and effort to check each and every translation. 
5. Collaboration and coordination - the machine is not capable of translating each and every detail as each day there are new editions in the vocabulary and news. Whereas speaking of people, they can collaborate with their peer translators and proofreaders in order to handle the detailing and complexities. More brains bring more ideas. hence, coordination and collaboration are very important for the translation industry as its growing each day and dynamic in nature.