As technology has advanced, more and more jobs performed by humans have been put into the hands of machines and artificial intelligence (AI). Seeing that tech companies like Microsoft and Google, have invested in automatic translation, the days of human translators seem numbered. But can machines and AI do the job as well as humans, or will we always need a human to do the job?
Translation is not as straightforward as you might think
The answer to this question, at this point, is no. Language translation is not as simple as the consumer-level translation available online. Machine translation apps are able to produce basic cross-language interactions, but they cannot do the jobs of trained translators. Seeing that language is complex due to tone, speech patterns, shifting syntaxes, slang, memes and humor, AI and machines are unable to recognise this and translate it sufficiently. Translators have the ability to read what AI and machines cannot, such as tone and shifting syntaxes. They are also trained in computer skills, new technologies, business skills, specialized translation areas, as well as translation theory.
Due to this, translation apps are not able to translate for health, legal and business matters, and are also unable to translate scans, handwriting and acronyms. Because of the current technology, machines and AI will not replace translators in the near future, especially because translators are most required, and are legally necessary, for civil and legal work. Being a legal translator requires you to be able to translate as well as to have a good grasp of legal knowledge. Investindo trains their legal translators to have the same level of understanding of legal knowledge as that of a law undergraduate.
Investindo: Indonesia’s leading legal translation agency
In several Indonesian laws and regulations, such as the Construction Services Law, the Manpower Law, the Language Law, and the PR on the Use of Indonesian Language regulation, the mandatory use of Indonesian language in a legal agreement is required so that both the foreign and Indonesian parties understand the agreement’s terms better. However, due to Indonesia’s diverse daily conversation, mixed with many local dialects, Indonesia has virtually no effective automated translation services.
Seeing that no automated translation services could do the job, an agency is required to do so. Although the agency has to deal with legal translation, they are not required to be an actual law firm. One of the leading legal translation agencies in Indonesia is Investindo, a professional legal translation service of PT Trimars Perkasa Abadi. The legal company specializes in legal translation, such as the translation of loan documents for multi-million dollar loan facilities as well as the translation of court dossiers. They also offer services in the translation of marketing material and technical documents. Being a specialist in the corporate and legal translation agency in Indonesia, Investindo has supported large-scale, cross-border transactions for law firms and companies in Indonesia for over 10 years. Their vast experience, having carried out legal translation services from Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia with more than 230 organisations, proves their speciality is justified. The agency, which was established by practicing lawyers, also provides their clients resources from a network of established legal professionals if needed.
In Closing
Meidini Hutagalung, the director of Investindo, is the best Indonesian legal translator. Meidini, completed a Bachelor of Law at the University of Indonesia, was a legal translator used by Indonesian law firms and has worked for Hiswara Bunjamin Tandjung (the associated Indonesian firm of Herbert Smith Freehills) and Hadiputranto Hadinoto and Partners (the Indonesian member firm of Baker & McKenzie International). With this experience, she has the accuracy and ability to work under pressure for clients, making them the best in their business. Meidini, ensuring that the client receives optimal service, believes in never saying “no” to a client’s request, no matter how difficult it is.
Technology and the development of AI seem to be the future, but companies like Investindo prove that no matter how advanced technology is, we will always need human expertise. Machine translations are getting quite good at translating engineering manuals, which follow a structured logic. Language, however, is a different ballgame and follows no explicitly specified criteria. It has multifaceted meaning and emotional undertones, underpinned by so many cultural perceptions, which is virtually impossible for a machine to understand.
