Exploring Human Roles in the Age of AI-Powered Language Services

Your role within the translation and localization services industry may have influenced whether you welcomed or recoiled from the idea of automated translation. Once a far-fetched concept depicted in fictional series like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (via the Babel fish) and Star Trek (via the universal translator), automatic translation has evolved into an essential tool for Language Service Providers (LSPs), offering significant business benefits. Advancements in Machine Translation (MT) and Generative AI (GenAI) have prompted global companies to embrace these technologies to expand into global markets.

Today, MT is a staple in virtually all translation workflows. Moreover, GenAI increasingly mirrors human cognitive processes during translation and content creation. This development raises the question, “What are humans’ future roles in AI-powered language services?”

Will Human Roles in AI-Powered Language Services Become Obsolete?

While it’s understandable for people working in the language services sector to have some trepidation about what comes next, their concerns are unwarranted. Industry experts agree that ever-accelerating technological advancements will not eliminate the need for human translators and other language industry workers. Instead, AI technology will elevate people’s translation and content creation tasks to more meaningful contributions.

Consider this: People’s past fears about emerging technologies have proven to be unfounded. For further insight into the defining moments of the language industry and how Lionbridge dodged threats posed by emerging technology, read our blog on Lionbridge’s 25^th anniversary. In a nutshell, Lionbridge’s ability to survive and thrive in an ever-changing landscape was due to its workforce’s ability to develop expertise in new technologies and use them as productivity tools to benefit customers.

We’ve taken the same curious approach with advancements in GenAI, using the Lionbridge AI Lab and other deliberate methods to transform our company into an AI-powered organization. Beyond our product offerings, we weave AI into everything we do to enhance efficiency and deliver value to our customers.

How Has Machine Translation Impacted Human Roles in Language Services?

MT significantly changed the language services industry, creating new roles and responsibilities for human translators. Let's delve into three significant ways MT made an impact.

Quality estimation

First, MT transformed the translation process from a manual task to a collaborative effort between humans and machines. Rather than provide translation from scratch, human translators primarily reviewed and enhanced machine-generated drafts to get them to publishable quality.

This shift enabled translators to reduce their efforts on mundane tasks and instead focus on more complex pieces requiring a human touch, be it for technical, emotional, or tonal reasons. Moreover, quality estimation efforts provided a positive feedback loop that trained MT algorithms and improved them over time.

Social impact analysis

Second, MT brought attention to the longstanding issue of data bias. Machines had the potential to unknowingly replicate and reinforce biases present in the data they were trained on. As such, it was incumbent on human translators to provide minimally biased content and check MT output for potential biases. As MT further evolved, humans focused on data collection and preparation.

Integration and scalable efficiency

Third, the integration of MT into workflows significantly enhanced efficiency and scalability. Lionbridge leveraged MT along with its unique, API-driven infrastructure to deliver high-quality translations quickly. Using Translation Memories (TMs) and automation has helped reduce overhead costs and accelerate the translation process. This automation has also enabled humans to infuse translations with nuances, ensuring the highest quality from a linguistic, cultural, and subject matter perspective.

How Is Generative AI Further Impacting Human Roles in Language Services?

GenAI is ushering in a new era in the language services industry, taking on more complex translation and content creation tasks. Even tasks primarily performed by humans under the Machine Translation paradigm — such as checking for bias — can now be done more efficiently via ever-sophisticated AI. For instance, Lionbridge Smart Content™, cutting-edge language AI, can help companies efficiently create content that resonates via 120+ content insights, including bias detection. It also automatically ensures brand voice and terminology are used consistently across all content a company creates, among other features that promote effective content creation.

Nonetheless, AI translation and other sophisticated AI contributions don’t diminish the pivotal role of human translators and others working in language services. Large Language Models (LLMs) don’t run themselves, and AI’s evolution is further shifting humans' responsibilities to more strategic undertakings.

It’s necessary to implement a human-in-the-loop AI translation model where human expertise is leveraged for AI training, prompt engineering, and AI integration and for supervising, guiding, and fine-tuning AI output.

Another integral human role in AI-powered language services involves promoting trust in the AI’s output and management. Through its TRUST framework, Lionbridge instills confidence in AI users among its customer base. The TRUST framework entails being Transparent about the process, using AI interventions to achieve Reliable output, being deliberate about AI implementation to achieve Useful results, taking Safety measures with company data to protect intellectual property, and evaluating the Timeliness and efficiency of the AI after implementing necessary interventions to ensure a positive Return on Investment (ROI).

What Will People Do?

As GenAI proliferates, human roles are evolving to become more strategic and analytic, including having the following responsibilities.

Content ideation

The content creation process begins with ideation, which requires human creativity and insight. Even with GenAI’s ability to generate content, the initial spark and cultural understanding necessary for ideation are distinctly human.

Content validation

Humans will continue to play an essential role in validating the accuracy of translation output, verifying its authenticity, and ensuring data security. Despite GenAI’s capabilities, humans judge nuances and context in ways that machines cannot.

Content analysis

Companies will need humans to monitor content performance, conduct comprehensive analyses, and make strategic decisions based on their insights. These human-driven actions enable more robust performance and the execution of more effective content strategies.

Like the many previous technological waves, AI language services will elevate how people work. As GenAI's capabilities evolve, collaboration between humans and AI will become increasingly important. Human roles will steer the AI and shape and refine its output to ensure it effectively serves its purpose.

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