Google Translate is giving users a speed vs accuracy option thanks to Gemini
For business travelers, holidaymakers and many other people, Google Translate is an essential tool. Making it possible to understand and be understood in other countries and other languages, Google Translate is now gaining a new AI-powered feature.
You would imagine that when it comes to translating text between languages, accuracy would be what most people – if not everyone – would be most interested in. But with the latest Gemini-focused update, Google is giving users the option to choose between a fast translation and a more accurate one.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more accurate translation is the one that is enhanced by Gemini, but it is interesting to consider the decision to introduce the choice. As noted by 9to5Google, Google first used AI to help with live translations, and it was really only a matter of time before it was used for other translation tasks.
Users of the Google Translate app on iOS (no sign of the same in the Android version as yet, for reason best known to Google) are being given the option to “choose text translation model”:
- Advanced: High accuracy for complex translations
- Fast: Best for quick translations
Support is extremely limited at the moment – AI-enhanced translation is only available in English to French and English to Spanish translations.
Given that most people would probably prefer to be as accurate as possible all of the time, what is the point? It is safe to say that for everyday translation tasks, including writing letters, having conversations and so on, the standard approach to translation is just fine.
But when it comes to translating large sections of text, or complex passages – such as poetry or extracts from a book – artificial intelligence can be a real benefit. Engadget tested the Gemini-powered translation option on a Molière play, finding that there was a definite difference and benefit in using AI in this case.
This is because of the greater contextual awareness of AI, allowing for a translation that it not only more accurate, but more natural sounding. As anyone who has used Google Translate will have noticed, the standard method of translation can be a little off sometimes; a lack of context means that some translations can be performed on a word for word basis – and the results are not always pretty.
But it is important to remember that this is AI, and AI is far from infallible. It can and will make mistakes, although this is something that should become less and less of a problem over time.
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