This day and age, AI seems to be everywhere. With promises of near-human intelligence, speed, and natural-sounding language, it’s no wonder that many people are using these tools more and more, including for on-the-go translations. It is indeed exciting and amazing! And it makes sense in so many contexts, like getting a quick overview of a report in a foreign language or deciphering a menu while on holiday. But there are obvious constraints. Most of us are painfully aware of AI systems’ strange hallucinations, bias, and confidently presented but completely wrong answers.
“Can’t we just pop it into an AI translator?“
When it comes to legal affairs and regulations, you just can’t afford to make these kinds of mistakes – they can hurt your image, your wallet, and even people. Translating legal documents is a delicate matter, whether it’s a business contract, a lease, a certificate, or a will. On top of excellent language skills in both the source and target languages, it requires experience, specialized insight, and the human ability to pause and ask the right questions. And sometimes, there are typos, logical or factual mistakes in the source document that a professional translator would flag for correction in order to ensure a flawless end product. Would your standard chat bot also do that?
Trust
And, at the end of the day, translation is all about trust: When contracting a translator to translate legal documents into Danish, you want to feel completely sure that she knows her way around legal terminology, law in general, and the intricate differences between your language and the target language. She needs to be detail-oriented, experienced, and have the right tools at hand, like comprehensive dictionaries and legal encyclopedias. Equally important is that she needs to be aware of and able to research the right solution for new or unknown terms and concepts.
Context, context, context
Those are the minimum requirements for a professional result. However, it takes two to tango: In order to get the best Danish translation possible, you should provide the following information from the beginning: What is the reason for the translation? Who is it for? Should it be as close to the original wording as possible, or rather function like an original text in Danish? If there are any company-internal terms or unclear abbreviations, you should define them briefly. And last, but not least, be prepared to answer any queries that might arise during the translation process. This will ensure case-specific precision and not just a fits-all solution.
A good translator will normally ask these context questions off her own bat, but beating her to it will ensure a better information flow, high quality, and of course a quicker turnaround – a win-win situation for everyone.
