

In my day-to-day life, when introducing myself to people as a professional translator, one of the most frequent questions I am asked is
What’s the point if we have Google Translate?
Example of bad translation of Google Translate
Indeed, there is a common misconception amongst people from all walks of life that, with the rise of increasingly sophisticated technology and, especially, online machine translation tools, the role of a professional translator is gradually becoming obsolete. In other words, many believe that in in 50 years’ time, no skilled human intervention will be necessary when passing text from one language to another.
To a certain extent, these people are correct: the translation industry is incorporating computers and technology more and more into its core activities; for example, intelligent tools with the capacity to ‘memorise’ previously-translated vocabulary and short phrases. If the end purpose of your translation is the simple transfer of information, for basic understanding and (if you’re lucky) vague sense, then yes, maybe Google Translate is the most appropriate solution. However, if you would like your translation to flow naturally and coherently in the target language, to accurately and reliably render the original content in another tongue and to avoid the typical pitfalls which so often catch machines out, it would be unthinkable to completely remove human input from the equation. Below are three of many reasons why, in my opinion, Google Translate is not enough to substitute me or my millions of co-professionals around the world:
These are only three of numerous reasons why I believe that computers are not yet ready to fully replicate the work of professional human translators. Of course, Google Translate and other machine translation tools can be very useful and – sometimes – appropriate in particular situations. Furthermore, no-one can deny that in the twenty-first century human translators increasingly frequently interact with high-calibre technology to improve the efficiency of their workflows. Nevertheless, the key word here is «interaction». Indeed, programmed machines can support, aid and prompt us as translators; however, for the moment (at least), they cannot replace us.
Mánchester (Reino Unido), 1989. Licenciada en Filología Hispánica y Portuguesa por la Universidad de Cambridge y con un Máster en Traducción e Interpretación por la Universidad de Leeds. Ha vivido, estudiado y trabajado en varios lugares de Reino Unido, España y Portugal y actualmente reside en Ferrol (A Coruña), donde traduce e interpreta para englishpanish.
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