Introduction

Many clinical trials these days are global in nature.  Patients recruited into the trials, as well as the researchers conducting the trial in their country of origin, usually do not rely on English as their primary language.  The importance of accurately translating clinical trials so the data can be gathered, researched, and made available expeditiously and consistently across borders is a vital necessity.

With the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the landscape of medical translation has been transformed, with Generative AI technologies promising to revolutionize the translation process by offering consistency and speed.  AI-enabled translation services can now be readily used for handling large volumes of routine scientific documents. AI can process vast amounts of text, critical when translating large volumes of clinical trial documents, research papers, and regulatory submissions.

Here’s a link to a Blog titled “Top Three Pros And Cons of using AI In Medical Translations” that explores the benefits and issues of AI-enabled translations in full detail.

Definition:  AI-enabled Translation

According to an excerpt from Speakt, AI-enabled Translation refers to the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and other AI learning algorithms to translate text from one language to another. The perceived goal of AI-enabled Translation is to provide accurate translations quickly and efficiently.

There are two main approaches for how AI-enabled Translation is utilized:

1) Rule-based translation, which relies on pre-defined rules and dictionaries to translate.

2) Statistical-models translation, which uses statistical models built upon large amounts of data in order to translate with a higher degree of quality.

Definition:  AI Human-Assisted Translation

AI Human-Assisted Translation is the human verification and authentication of translations initiated via AI.  It combines the strengths of both to overcome the limitations of pure automation. This methodology involves accredited human translators working alongside AI systems to enhance translation accuracy, contextual quality and localization.

In the human step of the process, an expert language reviewer checks and edits the AI-enabled Translation before it is considered final. Human experts also help in the training of AI programs over time to generate more accurate context and translations that are personalized to each project, a very important aspect for locally administered medical research and clinical trial protocols.

Comparing AI-enabled With  AI Human-Assisted Translation

AI-enabled Translation

At the highest level, AI-enabled Translation can quickly review and translate large volumes of content in a cost-effective manner.

– AI-enabled Translation is the ideal choice for large-scale translation tasks with short deadlines.

AI-enabled Translation uses historical data to rapidly determine terminology and common scientific phrases.

AI-enabled Translation is continually learning and improving over a growing number of languages.

AI-enabled Translation is perceived to eliminate human error and deliver a high level of accuracy. 

AI-enabled Translation can automatically transition between multiple languages, even within the same document.

– AI translator tools can easily integrate into various medical platforms to improve workflow efficiency.

AI Human-Assisted Translation

At the highest level, AI Human-Assisted Translation eliminates accuracy issues caused by ambiguity in the materials being translated, which can only be corrected by a human subject matter expert (SME) understanding the underlying context.

– Only humans can get more data from the author to understand the actual meaning and deliver the correct interpretation.

With non-common medical terminology, only humans can research the overall protocol requirements and find the best linguistic equivalent.

With localization issues, only humans can develop a translation strategy based on locally appropriate language nuances.

– In situations where complex scientific explanations need to be simplified so they are understandable, only humans can delve into the meaning of sentences enough to simplify them, without misrepresenting what they are trying to convey.

Conclusion

AI doesn’t possess the emotional intelligence required to make the kind of accuracy decisions necessary for a clinical trial that is translated in multiple countries across the world.  As we discovered earlier in this article, there are too many ambiguous medical terms, local nuances and underlying intentions that AI-enabled translations cannot be considered sufficient on their own.  According to an excerpt from a Forbes Council article, “AI is great at interpreting billions of data points, but when it comes to human emotion, we still need humans to understand and explain why a decision was made. One might argue that this reality will actually make humans more valuable in the workplace.”

Brian Cantwell Smith’s famous quote on AI applies here.  Medical researchers should use AI-enabled translations to “shoulder the reckoning tasks at which they excel, and not for other tasks beyond their capacity.”  Human experts with creativity, reasoning and industry experience can supplement these mechanical tasks with reviewing and editing power for all materials being translated, before they are considered final and placed in the public sphere.

Check out the Language Scientific AI Human-Assisted Translation  approach to all your translation needs.

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