Trust, but verify. After all, your organization’s reputation and bottom line are counting on it.
The rise of generative AI has transformed content creation and translation for a number of organizations, offering greater speed and efficiency, and the possibility to communicate with multilingual stakeholders more often. But in high-compliance industries like education, healthcare, law and human resources, this powerful tool is a double-edged sword. While AI translation promises fast turnaround times and bargain basement prices, unreviewed translation output can expose organizations to significant legal liabilities, reputational damage and financial losses. Today we’ll explore these inherent dangers and outline a risk management approach to help organizations like yours ensure both quality and compliance.
The Risks of Unchecked AI Translation
AI translation tools, while powerful, are not infallible. They can produce inaccuracies, inconsistencies and even culturally insensitive or offensive content that can harm the intended audience. These issues can be particularly problematic in high-compliance industries, as you can see in the following examples:
- Healthcare: Errors in translated medical instructions, patient records or informed consent forms can have dire consequences for patients. A simple misinterpretation of dosage instructions, for example, could lead to a medical emergency and subsequent litigation.
- Education: To aid student learning, not distract from it, educational institutions must ensure that all translated materials, including parent communications, are accurate and culturally appropriate. Translation inaccuracies can lead to misunderstandings, miscommunication and even legal disputes.
- Legal: Inaccurate legal translations can lead to misinterpretations of contracts, regulations and other critical documents, potentially resulting in legal challenges and costly litigation. Imagine a mistranslated clause in a patient consent form or an error in a translated regulatory filing–the consequences could be severe.
Beyond immediate legal and operational risks, however, unreviewed AI translations can also damage your organization’s reputation. Imagine a poorly translated marketing campaign that alienates a target audience or a website with inaccurate product descriptions that erode customer trust. Negative experiences can quickly spread (online and offline), impacting your organization’s image and bottom line.
Mitigating the Risks: A Proactive Approach
The key to mitigating the risks associated with AI translation in your organization lies in a proactive, risk-based approach. Consider implementing essential steps like these:
- Content Audits: Conduct thorough content audits to identify your audience, content requirements and potential risks associated with each piece of translated material. This will help you prioritize which content requires the most rigorous review or translation quality assurance process.
- Content Governance Policies: Develop robust content governance policies that address the use of AI translation. These policies should clearly define roles and responsibilities, establish quality standards and outline procedures for reviewing and approving translated content. As AI makes it easier for anyone in your organization to create content, clear governance is more critical than ever.
- Strategic Quality Management: Implement a risk-based quality management strategy. This involves identifying the potential impact of errors for each type of content and tailoring your review process accordingly. Critical documents, such as legal contracts or medical instructions, will require more rigorous review than, say, internal communications.
- Human Review Is Essential: While AI can be a valuable tool, it should not replace human expertise. For high-stakes content, human review by qualified linguists is absolutely essential. These linguists should possess not only language and cultural proficiency but also subject matter expertise in your specific industry.
- Partner with a Trusted LSP like Responsive Translation: Language Service Providers (LSPs) can play a crucial role in helping you to navigate the complexities of AI translation. They can assist with content audits, define appropriate quality processes and leverage their expertise to identify potential risk factors. A reputable LSP can also provide human review and translation quality assurance services to ensure the accuracy and cultural appropriateness of your translated content.
Staying Three Steps Ahead
We predict that increasing reliance on unverified AI translations will lead to legal challenges. While AI translation offers undeniable advantages, it must be approached with caution, particularly in high-compliance industries, as the potential for misinterpretations and errors in critical translated content is simply too high to ignore.
By adopting a risk management approach, prioritizing human review and partnering with a trusted LSP, organizations like yours can harness the power of AI while safeguarding themselves from the inherent risks and dangers. Don’t wait for a lawsuit to highlight the importance of quality. Take proactive steps today to protect your organization’s customers, reputation, and financial and legal standing.
Responsive Translation provides expert translation and quality control services, including strategic planning, custom workflows and enterprise solutions, for a wide range of organizations like yours. For more information, please get in touch at [email protected].