The AI revolution has completely transformed the translation industry. Powerful LLMs have changed how organisations deal with multilingual content. Unlike a decade ago, automated translation output has achieved a certain level of quality and consistency. Hence, clients and organisations are looking at AI as a fast and easy way to keep translations in-house. The question is thus: Are Large Language Models (LLMs) good enough to handle professional-grade translations? To answer that, we have to look under the hood of the three giants dominating the current landscape: Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot. While all three utilize LLM architecture, their approaches to translation are fundamentally different. ** Three giants, three different approaches**
_Scenario 1: You need a smooth, nuanced text with a human touch. Think of HR-related documents. _
Claude stands out in the translation space because of its grasp of human-like flow and contextual reasoning. In blind industry benchmarks, Claude ranks among the highest for producing natural-sounding, idiomatic translations. It can digest larger volumes while maintaining a rather cohesive tone and it can handle subtle social language hierarchies.
Scenario 2: You need documents to be translated in different languages, each slightly tailored to a different audience. Think of financial reports for various European branches.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, is a general-purpose powerhouse. While Claude leans into comprehension and polished phrasing, ChatGPT excels when you want to play with a text's structure. When translating with ChatGPT, you are in fact instructing a chatbot. You can prompt it to "Translate this financial report into Spanish, but adjust the tone to be accessible to a retail investor." ChatGPT looks at the meaning of the text and can produce relatively smooth, colloquial, and creative adaptations. However, there is a downside: without highly specific prompting, it can over-localize or accidentally alter critical technical meanings.
_Scenario 3: You need to translate internal content swiftly and without too much hassle. In a manner that is aligned with your current workflows. Think of internal emails. _
Microsoft Copilot occupies a unique middle ground, heavily relying on OpenAI's foundational models but filtering them through the lens of enterprise productivity. When handling internal communications or drafting multi-language emails, Copilot is definitely efficient. However, because it is tuned for workplace productivity rather than dedicated localization, it often lacks the granular terminology controls and deep cultural nuance.
The verdict
So, are they good enough to translate documents? The short answer is: Yes, as accelerators, but they all have serious limitations. If your goal is to translate internal training manuals, clear up an email from a global branch, or get the gist of a legal contract, these LLMs are absolutely fine (and you’re probably already using them for this purpose). They reduce turn-around times and costs significantly.
However, when the stakes are high, LLMs can quickly run into trouble. Capturing nuanced brand voices and contextual accuracies will still be difficult, and misinterpretations (or even worse, hallucinations) can lead to compliance failures and even physical dangers in a medical or technical context. And then we haven’t even touched on the various problems that can arise with regards to data protection.
Certified translation processes
These are not merely hypothetical dangers, made up by Language Service Providers to lure organisations back to “regular” translation services. The American technology firm Intuition Labs, which specializes in artificial intelligence and big data solutions for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, recently published an article on how translation errors lead to drug recall risks. One of the various examples they provide is a case involving multilingual labels in which “once per day” was mistranslated as “11 times a day”. In a pharmaceutical context, this is a critical error and can lead to potentially life-threatening situations.
Intuition Labs’ solution? They seem to advocate a mix of professional translation expertise and genuine technological innovation: “We also summarize documented safety guidance and best practices (such as ISO 17100-certified translation processes and multi-step reviews) that aim to prevent such errors, along with emerging technological solutions like automated proofreading and electronic Product Information (ePI).”
ELAN AI Bridge: model-agnostic & fully customisable
At ELAN Languages, we fully agree with this conclusion. Professional translation processes, always with a human in control, combined with the best technological solutions provide the ideal mix to ensure high-quality output.
Our very own AI translation tool, ELAN AI Bridge, fits the “technological innovation” description perfectly. First of all, it is model-agnostic, meaning we can select the right tools for the right job without being stuck to one technology or provider. ELAN AI Bridge can also be integrated in an LLM (such as the three we mentioned earlier), so you can use their prompting options and impressive AI power while ensuring that your translations are being handled by technology that was specifically designed to translate.
The advantage? ELAN AI Bridge allows you to translate virtually every file format, including audio and video files, add Context Stores as well as multiple terminology lists, style guides, reference files, and translation memories. And you can do this centrally, for the entire organisation, which means that multiple members of a team or even various teams can use ELAN AI Bridge via our token system.
Sounds interesting, but also expensive? Not really, because invoicing is based on the actual usage within an organisation instead of being tied to one particular user. No more expensive and un(der)used subscriptions. From our three available pricing and service levels, you simply select the one that best matches your organisation’s needs.
On top of that, it also makes it easier to keep a human in control and have one of our native-speaking proofreaders check your output to ensure that the final product is culturally resonant, factually flawless, and legally secure. The best of both worlds, indeed!
Summer trial Do you want to avoid potentially costly errors when translating multilingual content? Are you interested in how our tailored mix can benefit your organisation? Why not discover ELAN AI Bridge for yourself? If you register for a free trial before 1 September, you get to benefit from our summer promotion: three weeks instead of one to test ELAN AI Bridge with no strings attached. Register here. If you have any additional questions, you can always contact Johan Noël via johannoel@elanlanguages.com or +32 11 43 47 64.