The concerning use of AI and machine translation in medical translation

It has been an unavoidable subject of debate in recent years, not only in translation circles, but across swathes of society. Some argue that AI can only inevitably help humans in the completion of complex, repetitive or mundane tasks ripe for automation; others argue it is taking all humanity out of the workplace, reducing creativity and stealing jobs, copyright and all forms of social interaction in the workplace. The truth is, AI has become an ever-present part of our daily lives and is affecting translation as much as anywhere else.

Whilst the benefits of AI are clear to see such as speed in translation of otherwise very lengthy, time-consuming jobs, it cannot be argued that it also presents a plethora of new risks including data confidentiality issues due to sensitive information being uploaded to online tools, inaccuracy due to the reduction of costs and the use of proofreaders, or reviewers – often without the necessary language skills or expertise – to proofread complex medical translations performed by AI.

As a professional medical translator, I feel it is important to spend some time looking into this worrying trend in the industry and providing some clarification to my customers and potential customers regarding the industry, what is happening at present, as well as my own take.

An introduction to terminology – what is AI, MT, MTPE?

First of all, for the average customer who does not use translation services on a regular basis, the terminology being used in the industry can be quite confusing and certainly warrants some clarification.

AI is quite an obvious one and stands for Artificial Intelligence – put simply, any task which is performed by a computer, usually on the basis of human input and built around online material which is used to create a statistically likely answer to a set of prompts, or questions.

Now, the translation sector has its own terms which are MT and MTPE. These stand, respectively, for Machine Translation and Machine Translation Post-Editing (also often called PEMT, post-editing of machine translation). In a nutshell, this means that a document has been uploaded to an online translation tool, built around AI, and translated by the machine before then returned to the user for download in the new language. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, admittedly, if you are on holiday and need a quick translation of the food menu in your hotel or restaurant, then it is pretty useful and can get you out of a quick fix. However, we are talking about complex medical translation of sensitive documents, and this is where the discussion becomes much more interesting.

Is it legal to use AI or machine translation for medical translation?

Technically speaking there is certainly no legal issue in the use of machine translation, or AI, for medical translation. However, it is essential that the customer is informed that the document they have submitted will be translated by machine and reviewed by a human. This comes down to misinformation of customers, or mis-selling otherwise. Typically, in the translation sector, a document translated by machine will cost less than one translated by a human.

Unfortunately, it is important for customers to do their due diligence when commissioning a translation from a provider as some unethical translation agencies are not informing customers that this practice is being used, and charging for a full human translation in an attempt to make more money. A very sad time for the industry as this negatively impacts those who work in an ethical manner.

Are machine translated or AI translated medical translations accurate?

Medical translation is a skill which takes many years to hone and refine. It takes a lot of reading, research and expertise. Not just anyone who speaks another language fluently can translate a medical text. Medical documents include a lot of jargon, complex terminology and thorough understanding of medical procedures as well as a host of context.

Unfortunately, machines and AI are simply not capable of the level of thought and complex understanding to produce medical translations of impeccable quality. In the best case, the machine-generated medical translations are useable to gain a gist of the meaning, but certainly not for any diagnostics or thorough understanding.

The truth is a medical translation produced by AI or a machine must be thoroughly reviewed by a human, and often re-written before it could be used in any serious medical setting. However, the reviewing process is much more complex than simply changing a few words. Often this requires complete re-writing and is, in the majority of cases, just a time-consuming and costly as a translation. One considerable risk with allowing your medical document to be translated by machine and reviewed by a human is that the reviewer misses something which is inaccurate, with potentially harmful consequences. This then raises concerns for future liability.

What about data protection in AI or machine translation of medical documents?

As an expert medical translator with close to two decades in the profession, I can safely say that there are three factors which are the most important for every client coming to me for a medical translation: (i) accuracy, (ii) cost and (iii) data protection. It is expected that an expert medical translator is able to provide an accurate translation free from errors. This is a prerequisite. It is then a question of cost. Often budgets are stretched; however, spending money on your health is often something most customers are happy to do. Within reason of course. And finally, data protection is one of the first questions I am asked – even ahead of the other two factors. Why is this important?

First of all, remember we discussed the use of AI or MTPE whereby a document is uploaded to an online machine translation tool? Well, this then equates to your sensitive medical documents becoming freely available online. Just recently in the press there was a case of ChatGPT discussions being readily available in Google searches. Now just imagine one day someone is researching breast cancer, for example, on Google and they were to come across your medical records which had been unapologetically uploaded to an online machine translation tool. How would that make you feel?

Do you use AI or machine translation for your medical translations?

I am a firm believer that our health is sensitive and deserves the best level of protection. For this reason, I never use any online AI or machine translation tools in the medical translations which come to me through my website directly. This is a guarantee which will not change as long as I am in charge at French Medical Translations.

My clients are all reassured at the time of being quoted of my commitment not to use any online tools for their translation. They are reassured that they are benefitting from a human translation, with my two decades of expertise and the guarantee that no nasty computer errors will creep into the medical translation provided.

What are the consequences of this? Firstly, my medical translation will most certainly take longer than a machine. However, what level of importance is placed on accuracy and data protection? Secondly, as a small boutique medical translation agency, my overheads are small and, as many of my clients point out, my prices are very competitive in the sector. I do this because I do not believe in commercialising and making money out of other people’s misfortune and ill health. I also do my job as medical translator out of passion. A love for my job also means that I am never going to be seduced into using a machine; after all, hanging my beloved job to a computer would strip me of the passion in my work.

I have been working as an expert French to English medical translator since 2008 and am a Chartered Linguist and Certified Translator providing medical translations to clients across the world. If you need a French medical translation, get in touch today to ask a question or request a free quote, we always reply within an hour.