AI or human translation: when AI is enough

When is AI translation enough?

To understand a document, sort files, follow internal correspondence or prepare a draft that nobody will publish as it stands. The cost of an error remains low.

When is it not enough?

When an error has a legal, health, financial or reputational cost. A professional translator is then essential, to review the machine output or to translate the text themselves.

• Official documents filed with an authority: a French sworn translation is signed by a court-registered translator
• Contracts, articles of association and court documents
• Instructions for use, regulatory documents and health content
• Published texts carrying your brand: website, catalogue, campaign

What is post-editing?

Post-editing is the review and correction of a machine translation by a professional translator, up to an agreed quality level. ISO 18587 sets out its requirements; Asiatis uses it as a reference framework, without certification.

Post-editing suits large, repetitive and factual volumes. Asiatis advises against it for contracts, regulatory instructions and brand content.

Can a sworn translation be produced by AI?

No. A French sworn translation bears the stamp, signature and statement of conformity of a translator registered as an expert with a court of appeal, who is accountable for the text.

Can a confidential document be submitted to an online translation tool?

Submitting a document to an online tool means passing it to a third party. Before pasting a confidential document or one containing personal data, check the tool’s terms of use: data retention and reuse.

How much does human or post-edited translation cost?

Professional translation is charged from €0.10 excl. VAT per source word, depending on the language pair. Post-editing is charged below the translation rate, on quote after reviewing the files.