Language barriers cost businesses time and money. Workers spend a significant amount of time translating ideas for global team members and diverse audiences.
Doing so requires valuable effort that they could spend on other tasks to improve the company. Miscommunications and misunderstandings also create issues for managers who must remedy the mistake.
Thankfully, AI translation technology is helping to address these issues. Let’s look at how it does so in detail.
Understanding AI Language Software and Its Types
Traditional translation software translates sentences word-for-word without regard for order or tone. AI language software goes beyond simple translations and comprehends entire sentences’ meanings, tones and structures for more comprehensive understanding. It closely mimics the work of a human translator without the time and money required to work with one long-term. Here is the software that specifically aids language translation:
Natural Language Processing
This technology can detect intent. It interprets emotions, politeness, slang and sarcasm in the original text and then delivers it with the same tone to the recipient. This prevents misunderstandings and fosters a more intimate relationship between speakers.
Neural Machine Translation
This software analyzes an entire sentence to interpret its overall meaning and convey it accurately. Often, traditional translators spit out each word without understanding the sentence as a whole. Neural machine translation ensures the meaning gets across.
Speech Recognition and Instant Translation
Speech recognition and instant translation software instantly understand and translate spoken words. This speeds up communication among co-workers and international partners for maximum efficiency.
How AI Breaks Language Barriers
Businesses are already simplifying their logos to be more accessible to global customers. However, they can also adapt their approach to language to communicate internationally. The need for global outreach as well as multilingual communication within workplaces is crucial.
Language barriers prevent good teamwork because workers spend most of their time translating and re-explaining key concepts, leaving little room for innovative thinking or confident idea sharing. They also alienate other languages from campaigns, hindering companies’ market outreach.
Internal Communication
AI enhances team communication and facilitates the creation of marketable content, preventing employees from misunderstanding each other. It can translate meetings for team members in real time. By helping managers and team members communicate, it strengthens workplace relationships. AI translators help co-workers avoid misunderstandings that inhibit the workday and prevent task completion.
External Outreach
Language barriers prevent audiences from connecting with a company’s content, services and products. AI can create websites in multiple languages for easier use. It can also translate product descriptions and services more accurately for consumers who speak a variety of languages.
If a company has a particular deal or perk, AI effectively communicates it to international audiences, so neither party misses out.
How Marketers Use AI for Collaboration and Marketing
According to 75% of employees, collaboration and teamwork are critical skills for the workplace. However, 39% of employees think their companies could improve collaboration. Collaborating with global teams and refining international marketing strategies benefits companies. Language barriers prevent this, but AI is bridging the gap by fostering deeper collaboration and marketing.
Collaborating Across Global Teams
Remote work is enabling companies to hire team members from anywhere in the world. However, without proper language translation, collaboration opportunities are limited.
AI helps facilitate communication and, therefore, collaboration across international teams. It also helps global team members gain more confidence at work. They can actively participate in group projects and discussions with their co-workers using AI’s language tools.
Marketing to International Audiences
Marketers can reach global audiences by utilizing AI translation technology to create advertisements in multiple languages. AI also enhances marketers’ localization of content, translating what is trending in an area.
These practices boost sales and create more niche markets for businesses.
Considerations for Implementing AI Language Tools
Despite the great strides AI is making in language, it is still not perfect. It can make mistakes that a human translator would not. It struggles to translate culture-specific language and has difficulty understanding stronger accents. It also raises privacy concerns when every conversation is translated and stored in an AI’s database for future use.
Humans and AI must work together to overcome language barrier issues. The key is to divide tasks between the two for maximum efficiency. Companies should still use human translators for high-stakes, sensitive translations to avoid serious miscommunications.
Properly integrating AI and human workers can enhance a business’s multilingual outreach.
The Future of Global Communication
Language barriers create unnecessary misunderstandings and limit brands’ global outreach. Advanced AI language technology is making it easier for companies to communicate with global audiences as well as between co-workers.
By breaking down walls, businesses can foster genuine collaboration, connect with new markets and establish a more cohesive global presence. Embracing these tools is becoming an essential advantage for any forward-thinking company.
Eleanor Hecks is a design and marketing writer and researcher with a particular passion for CX topics. You can find her work as Editor in Chief of Designerly Magazine and as a writer for publications such as Clutch.co, Fast Company and Webdesigner Depot. Connect with her on LinkedIn or X to view her latest work.
