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NEW: AI Translation Check

What are the potential problems with AI translations

Dialogues: Even the best AI translations frequently fail to produce results that sound truly natural. This is especially noticeable in translations from English into German, where dialogues frequently suffer. For example, German distinguishes between formal and informal forms of address, and AI almost always gets this wrong – often switching between the two within the same conversation.

Ambiguities are another major sticking point. AI simply doesn’t reliably choose the correct translation when a word has more then one meaning. A prime example, I’ve come across frequently is the word cabin (a cabin on a ship, a cabin in the woods or a toilet cubicle). In books I’ve worked on, AI has chosen the wrong option 9 times out of 10. And you can’t even see any logical reason why it chose one over the other.

Idioms and phrases that are used everyday can hardly ever be directly translated. A German equivalent that transports the same meaning has to be found. AI, even though it is getting better and recognises some of the most frequent ones, still fails at this hurdle.

Wordplays: This is directly linked to ambiguities above but it goes further than that. For instance, the English language has many tongue in cheek plays on words that would never work in German. You read between the lines, notice, the crooked smile or the wink and understand exactly what the speaker is hinting at. AI doesn’t get that. It doesn’t read between the lines, it just translates the text. The result frequently doesn’t make any sense.

Sentencing structure is also a common issue. While the translation might be technically correct, the structure often still follows English patterns, making it immediately obvious that it is an AI translation.

Localisation: The cultural issues. Film, TV show, and book titles, for instance, are often adapted for the German market and not simply translated. For example, the movie Jaws is called Der weiße Hai (“The White Shark”) in German. One might argue which is better, but that’s not the point. It’s just how it is. And while AI might recognize some well-known titles like this one and choose the correct title, there are countless others it won’t recognize and it will fail to translate it correctly.

With all that in mind, I strongly recommend that, if you choose to save money by using AI instead of hiring a human translator, you should at least let me (or someone else) review and tidy up the AI translation of your work before you publish it for the world to see.

Building up a reputation takes time – it can be lost in one instance!

All Services offered in both English and German:

• Translations

• Proofreading

• Copy editing

• Line editing

Types of text:

• Novels, all genres  except Erotica

• Storybooks, Children's books

• Fiction and non-fiction*

• Advertising or marketing material

• Social media content

*for specialised subjects, please contact me first

I do any job, small or large.

I will provide a time estimate at the beginning and updates on progress during the project. Unless there are unforeseen circumstances, I always meet my deadlines. I will accept projects in either language. 

Can you try before you buy?

Absolutely! I will work on a short text for you (up to 1000 words) for free and if you like the result, we can talk about further projects I can help you with.