September 26, 2024
Why ISO 17100 is essential in an AI-driven translation world
The translation industry is undergoing a major shift with the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI). Whilst AI brings many advantages such as faster translation turnaround times and cost savings, it also presents challenges related to the quality and accuracy of translations produced in this manner.Â
This article explores how ISO 17100, the global standard for translation services, can help providers maintain a high-quality service even when adopting AI into their processes.Â
What is ISO 17100?
ISO 17100 is the internationally recognised standard for translation service providers and defines the requirements for delivering a high-quality service to your clients. The standard covers every aspect of your business that could impact the quality and delivery of your services and focuses on four key areas:
- Your translators: ISO 17100 ensures your team have the necessary qualifications and competencies to carry out translation tasks to the required standard.
- Pre-production processes and activities: appropriate processes are established for managing and analysing enquiries, assessing project feasibility, preparing quotations and formalising contractual agreements.
- Production process: this stage covers the actual translation process, ensuring content is translated and reviewed by several qualified translators to ensure accuracy. You will also implement processes for quality assurance and for handling client feedback or revisions efficiently.
- Post-production process: upon project completion, you will have processes in place to collect and evaluate customer feedback. Where required, you will take corrective action to address any issues.Â
Key benefits of ISO 17100
Some key benefits include:
Enhanced customer satisfaction by consistently delivering excellent service to your customers.
Customer reassurance that you operate to the highest level of standards as set out by industry experts.
Improved communication between you and your customers through effective project management.
Increased profit potential and market share by enhancing the quality and reliability of your services.
Competitor advantage by demonstrating your commitment to quality.
Implementing ISO 17100 not only ensures you meet global quality standards for translation services but positions you as the best in the market. As the translation industry continues to adopt AI, ISO 17100 will provide an essential foundation for delivering excellent service to your customers.Â
The growing use of AI in translation
There is no doubt that utilising AI is hugely beneficial to the translation industry thanks to its ability to process and translate vast amounts of text quickly. However, it’s far from perfect. It can produce translations with errors such as incorrect word order, homophone confusion and improper use of pronouns. AI has also been known to hallucinate, making the text completely inaccurate.Â
These errors aren’t just minor inconveniences. In recent years, AI mistranslations have had serious consequences, such as jeopardising asylum applications, wrongful arrests, and even negatively affecting patient care within the NHS. While AI is a powerful tool, it’s clear that relying solely on machine translation is not yet viable.Â
To cover this, we’re finding that many translation service providers are now utilising AI for the initial translation draft, followed by a human review.  However, for critical documents where minor translation errors could have significant consequences, such as those for medical devices or legal contracts, multiple human checks are still needed to ensure accuracy.Â
How ISO 17100 ensures quality in AI-driven translations
Translation service providers who incorporate AI into their processes must be mindful of the quality and accuracy of translations produced. ISO 17100 emphasises the importance of quality control, ensuring excellent quality standards, even when utilising AI.Â
Here are five ways ISO 17100 can help you maintain quality:
Multiple quality checks:
ISO 17100 emphasises numerous quality checks throughout production. This means that even if AI is used to complete the initial translation, the content will be reviewed by a human multiple times to ensure the content is indeed accurate.
Qualified human translators:
Simply reviewing AI-generated content is not enough, it needs to be done so by qualified and experienced professionals. ISO 17100 ensures that your translators are adequately trained and competent, increasing the likelihood of identifying and correcting AI errors.
Optimised production processes:
A key area of ISO 17100 is its focus on a comprehensive production process from start to finish. This includes assessing project feasibility when using AI, setting clear guidelines for combining AI with human expertise, and implementing quality controls to meet client requirements.
Effective risk mitigation:
As discussed earlier, there are risks associated with AI translations, especially for critical documents. ISO 17100 will help you manage these risks effectively, ensuring that AI-generated content is thoroughly checked and corrected before being delivered to the client.
Consistent terminology management:
ISO 17100 emphasises the importance of consistent terminology across translations, something AI struggles with. As part of the standard, you will implement terminology management practices to include client-approved glossaries to prevent inconsistencies. Human reviewers need to ensure that AI-generated content adheres to these practices.  Â
Striking the perfect balance between AI and human expertise
There’s no doubt the future of translation includes AI, but it doesn’t have to compromise the quality of your service. By adopting ISO 17100, you can achieve the perfect balance between AI technologies and human expertise, ensuring your translation services remain both fast and accurate.Â
ISO 17100 provides an essential framework for integrating AI responsibly while maintaining high standards of service quality. Whether you’re already utilising AI or considering its adoption, ISO 17100 certification can help you safeguard your business.Â
If you’re interested in learning more about ISO 17100 and how it can benefit your business, our friendly team of experts are ready to help. You can contact the team on 0330 058 5551 or by submitting an online enquiry form.Â
