Can My Brand Make Use of Machine Translation?

If your brand is using the internet in any marketing or sales capacity, you should look into the useful tool of machine translation to see if it can be integrated into your operation.

The concept of machine translation has been around since the 9^th century, although a working experiment wasn’t created until the early 50s with the advent of the digital computer. This translation tool relies on artificial intelligence to further refine itself and ‘learn’ how to speak a language that includes idioms, similes and translates one language to another using easily understood words and phrases with an increasingly high degree of accuracy.

How Does it Work?

Neural machine translation uses languages’ linguistic rules to find the corresponding common meanings in sentences and provide accurate translations between the source language and the target language. The algorithm uses a layered approach in performing its functions. It finds the subject nouns first and then finds the corresponding verbs. It then proceeds through more complicated layers until it completes the translation of the sentence. Simple sentences will require fewer layers than complex ones. This layering approach speeds up the functions of the algorithm.

The system was primarily designed for text entries, but when connected to a voice recognition system, it can translate the text supplied to the algorithm. When the resulting translation is re-entered into a voice recognition system using the target language on the other end, it can seem like two people conversing.

Anyone who has ever used Google Translate has been introduced to a neural machine translation system. As most people who have used Google’s system have found, it becomes more accurate the more you use it. This is the AI facet of the system at work. It needs to be exposed to many users to collect various input data, which it then uses to give a more accurate translation.

Applications of Machine Translation

Any business that embraces technology in its operations can see the benefits of this type of translation system. Company website pages can be more accurately translated into the user’s language. Translations, subtitles, and voice-overs can be quickly completed for promotional videos running in several countries simultaneously. Text and image-based marketing materials can be adapted to a specific country’s needs without the need for a translator.

Companies selling their products overseas yet don’t have a physical presence in the targeted country can also benefit from this translation technology. Maintaining a high level of customer service is crucial in a digital business environment. Being able to converse and answer questions from multiple countries can mean a significant gain in a brand’s market share.

Many tech companies have introduced their own versions of machine translation, and some are more sophisticated than others. Look closely at your brand’s needs in terms of exacting translations before purchasing or subscribing to a system. It has to deliver a level of accuracy that matches the complexity of your products and services and the sophistication of your brand’s communications.