The Latest Trends in the Translation Industry 2024

by Marian Gomez | 13 Feb, 2023 | Human translation, Machine Translation, Translation tools

Will machine translation replace humans in the translation industry?

Let’s take a look at the translation trends for 2024 and see if we can answer this question.

Translation is becoming increasingly important in today’s social and economic climate. While countries have established trading routes between their settlements for centuries, the world has only moved towards globalisation relatively recently.

Companies have now extended their reach beyond the country where they established their headquarters, making communication in different languages a legitimate necessity.

The world’s governments also have an obligation to communicate effectively with one another, and doing so implies not only grammatical and lexical correctness, but also looking closely at the nuances of words and phrases alongside awareness regarding the cultural aspects of language.

As such, the need for high-quality translations has increased over the years and shows no signs of decreasing in importance.

Moreover, much like other industries, technology has a vital role to play.

Tech innovation is also on a continuously ascending path. There is no way to accurately predict its exact direction, only that it continues to evolve and shape the landscape of the industries associated with it.

However, failing to keep up with technological change is a drawback for companies as it means that you can fall behind your competitors.

And while there are some unfortunate events, such as infringements, that make you eligible for data breach compensation, there’s no denying the importance of technology.

Here are the latest trends in the translation industry to be aware of, as well as the ways in which their application will change the translation ecosystem.

Machine translation

It comes as no surprise that machine translation has gradually increased in importance and is currently one of the most prominent trends in the translation industry.

Machine translation is a rapidly growing field that uses computer algorithms and software to translate text from one language to another.

With the advent of advanced technologies and machine learning techniques, machine translation has come a long way since its inception and has revolutionised the way we communicate with people who speak different languages.

It is an automatic process that uses artificial intelligence to translate text automatically. The process is entirely digital and can operate without human intervention.

It is complex and there are several different aspects to it which include:

• RBMT: Rule-based machine translation is perhaps the most classical approach to the process. The translation is conducted based on grammatical rules and syntactic, morphological and semantic characteristics.
• SMT: Statistical machine translation focuses on statistical models created following the analysis of both mono- and bilingual data. After the patterns are completed, the system uses statistical distribution to determine the most probable translation.
• Neural Machine Translation: This process uses AI to learn languages and translate texts. This approach uses neural network tools to estimate the likelihood of a set of words in a given sequence.
• Hybrid Machine Translation: HMT integrates multiple techniques within a single system. Translators choose this method because, on its own, no paradigm can achieve optimal accuracy.

While AI-powered translations have been continuously developing and will continue to do so, the process is still not sufficiently attuned to the particularities and intricacies of language to provide perfect translations on its own.

However, it can help speed up the process for professional translators.

In the current economic environment, after businesses suffered significantly as a result of the pandemic, company owners aim to achieve optimal business turnaround and recover from this period of poor performance.

High-quality translations are an essential part of the process.

Pre-editing and post-editing in the translation industry

Just as machine translation software can help professional translators achieve a higher standard, human translators can also improve the tech-based process.

The process of pre-editing involves correcting any mistakes, whether in grammar, spelling or punctuation.

Removing any ambiguities and simplifying structures can also help the programs operate more efficiently.

In the case of post-editing, the machine translation output is reviewed in order to remove linguistic or semantic errors.

First, light editing is focused solely on the correct meaning. The second step, full post-edit, emphasises stylistic issues and aims to achieve a high-quality level comparable to human translation.

Specialised translations

Across all business sectors and industries, the demand for personalised experiences has constantly been growing.

Companies are no longer localised to a single area, as even small businesses aim to extend their area and reach a global audience.

However, to do this, correct translation solutions are needed to help you adapt and localise your content to new cultures and audiences.

Target consumers cannot be reached with the same strategy across the globe.

The process of transcreation is one of the most important factors here. The translator is tasked with conveying a business’s original marketing to a new audience, which means that virtually anything can change, including product names and labels.

The only thing that must remain intact is the original intent.

Choosing this marketing approach is beneficial for businesses, and those that acknowledge it will have an edge over their competitors.

Growing demand

One of the most critical trends in the translation industry this year is that the field itself continues to grow. This trend is due to increases in both international trades and the world population.

These societal changes have considerable implications for global issues such as climate change, environmentalism, discrimination, food insecurity, medical concerns, and economic vulnerabilities.

As governments and companies reach out to one another to create solutions to these challenges, translations are becoming more important than ever.

However, it is more appropriate to say that the demand is for high-quality, specialised translations.

Nowadays, anything that falls short of expectations is likely not going to stand a chance against its competitors.

SEO

Good translations are one of the building blocks of a strong business. Since marketing is essential, SEO has become increasingly valuable.

Multilingual SEO is even more sought after by business owners for its potential to expand a company’s international online presence.

This includes on- and off-page strategies and technical SEO tools to optimise the process.

Translations have existed for the better part of written history.

Rather than decreasing in importance, they are becoming more and more valuable, with technology helping make the process faster and more efficient.