The Advantages and Disadvantages of Machine Translation

In the past when we had to figure out the meaning of a word from another language, we made use of a dictionary. Not only was this a very time consuming task but it was kind of irritating owing to the fact that it was difficult to interpret the meanings. Moreover, when an entire paragraph or note had to be translated, this could be very difficult because one word had several meanings. So what to do? That's where the machine translator came into the picture.

But what exactly is a machine translator?

Since the advent of the 21st century, there have been a lot of developments and new technologies have been introduced which have made life more convenient and simple. A machine translator is such a small yet useful device. Machine translation, which is also known as Computer Aided Translation, is basically the use of software programs which have been specifically designed to translate both verbal and written texts from one language to another. In the face of rapid globalization, such services have become invaluable for people and you just cannot think of any disadvantages of machine translation.

Nevertheless, like everything has its pros and cons, so does machine translation. Let's go over the advantages of machine translation:

When time is a crucial factor, machine translation can save the day. You don't have to spend hours poring over dictionaries to translate the words. Instead, the software can translate the content quickly and provide a quality output to the user in no time at all.
The next benefit of machine translation is that it is comparatively cheap. Initially, it might look like a unnecessary investment but in the long run it is a very small cost considering the return it provides. This is because if you use the expertise of a professional translator, he will charge you on a per page basis which is going to be extremely costly while this will be cheap.
Confidentiality is another matter which makes machine translation favorable. Giving sensitive data to a translator might be risky while with machine translation your information is protected.
A machine translator usually translates text which is in any language so there is no such major concern while a professional translator specializes in one particular field.

Disadvantages of Machine Translation:

Accuracy is not offered by the machine translation on a consistent basis. You can get the gist of the draft or documents but machine translation only does word to word translation without comprehending the information which might have to be corrected manually later on.
Systematic and formal rules are followed by machine translation so it cannot concentrate on a context and solve ambiguity and neither makes use of experience or mental outlook like a human translator can.

These are the primary advantages and disadvantages of using machine translation for a document regardless of language. They can be weighed and the right decision can be made depending on the information and the quality that is required.

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