{"id":20000,"date":"2024-10-30T01:24:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T01:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/?p=20000"},"modified":"2025-09-11T17:25:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T17:25:40","slug":"why-free-ai-translations-can-be-very-costly-and-by-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/why-free-ai-translations-can-be-very-costly-and-by-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Why free AI translations can be very costly – AND BY THE WAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may have noticed that we played a little game with this newsletter. To drive home the point that only professionally translated content will ensure accuracy for your important correspondences, we purposely added two errors to the original newsletter – one was a translation error and one was a simple sentence error in English. A trick added to this Halloween newsletter treat that shows how easily a rapid reading of documents can overlook mistakes. Please reread the newsletter and see if you can determine where the errors have been corrected!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The best part about AI translation tools is that they are supposedly free. Except that their mistakes can be very costly, especially if no one at your organization can check them.<\/p>\n

While AI is definitely improving, it is far from perfect. Common mistakes are in word usage, lack of conversion between Imperial and Metric measurements, many expressions and nuances, and general lack of cultural adaption.<\/p>\n

Consider the simple sentence, \u201cI\u2019d like to introduce you to my friends.\u201d Many languages distinguish between \u201cyou\u201d formal [as in business] and informal [as in families]. Because of the word \u201cfriends,\u201d AI translations assume the informal \u201cyou.\u201d But what if the speaker were talking to a prominent visitor from abroad? The informal \u201cyou\u201d is totally inappropriate.<\/p>\n

In many languages, \u201cfriends\u201d are either masculine or feminine. AI usually assumes masculine plural. But what if a business woman wanted to introduce you to her female friends who could help in your joint venture? The mixing of pronouns and genders will seem offensive in many cultures.<\/p>\n

For \u201cfriends,\u201d Spanish normally uses \u201camigos\u201d [masculine] and \u201camigas\u201d [feminine] but in current usage, has created the word \u201camigues\u201d to refer to both or unknown genders. Almost no AI uses that. And for formal \u201cyou\u201d in Spanish, some countries use \u201custed\u201d and others use \u201cvos.\u201d Incorrect usage also will offend.<\/p>\n

In other languages, English words such as author, teacher, professor, director, manager, president or doctor must specify the gender of that profession. AI programs sometimes give both choices but usually defer to the masculine. That too can offend women.<\/p>\n

Regarding word usage, Americans assume that paying a hydro bill in Canada means paying the water bill. Except that \u201chydro\u201d means \u201celectric\u201d there. And what pray-tell is Canadian \u201chomo milk?\u201d The answer is under my signature below.<\/p>\n

Similarly, put these Danish expressions in AI and you get their literal meanings:<\/p>\n

\u201cDum som en torsk\u201d > \u201cDumb as a cod\u201d which means \u201cVery stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrisk som en fisk\u201d > \u201cFresh as a fish\u201d which means \u201cFit as a fiddle \/ healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And finally, a sign of \u201cRulers for Visitors\u201d in Shanghai parks include that \u201cmentalpatients are admitted only under custody\u201d while a Chinese garment label stated, \u201cQualification. Wash by hand, 30 degrees C, No chlorine, No wring, In coleslaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please remember:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 What seems obvious may offend if used in the wrong situation; and<\/p>\n

\u00b7 You get what you (don\u2019t) pay for: Are mistakes worth the risk to your reputation?<\/p>\n

Unlike AI-only solutions, Auerbach International<\/a><\/strong> guarantees accuracy and precision — by combining AI with Master\u2019s-level translators and interpreters who speak your subject terminology. With over three decades of experience in most every industry, our professionals convert expressions and first ask questions about your context \u2013 for 120 languages.<\/p>\n

Please contact us<\/a><\/strong> to connect cultures, to unlock opportunities worldwide, and to identify promising countries to enter and strategies to enter them.<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

Philip Auerbach
\nFounder, President & CEO
\nAuerbach International
\nHeadquarters – 415-592-0042
\nwww.auerbach-intl.com<\/a><\/strong>
\ntranslations@auerbach-intl.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS: In Canada, \u201chomo milk\u201d is \u201chomogenized milk.\u201d Obvious, eh?<\/p>\n

\u201c3 Decades. 2 Billion Words. A+ Accuracy. Superior Translation Services.”<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may have noticed that we played a little game with this newsletter. To drive home the point that only professionally translated content will ensure accuracy for your important correspondences, we purposely added two errors to the original newsletter – one was a translation error and one was a simple sentence error in English. A… Continue reading Why free AI translations can be very costly – AND BY THE WAY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-newsletter","entry"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21358,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20000\/revisions\/21358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auerbach-intl.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}