Translation tools have improved and become more widely accessible. And, with fast-emerging AI technology and deep-learning, they are getting better every day. In fact, as hard as it may be to admit, the future of human translation is uncertain to say the least.    

Then again, when translating creative content or advertising copy, one has to ask… How good are these tools really? How far have they advanced today? Are they more than a handy productivity tool, a starting point, a timesaver? Or, can they think like a human and be creative like a copywriter?

Let’s put it to the test…

For this post we ran a sample advertisement through four popular translation apps that are free and accessible to anyone. And, to demonstrate the power of AI, we asked ChatGPT to write this sample advertisement, for itself.

Here’s what came back in a matter of seconds…

Pretty good, right? Clearly, ChatGPT knows how to promote itself!

Now let’s see how some popular translation apps will translate this copy into Spanish.

As expected, every app we tested did a reasonably good job of translating the content. Words are spelled correctly and sentence structure is accurate. In fact, even the acronym “AI” was translated correctly by all of them as “IA”. And, shout out to DeepL for writing “descargala” (instead of …lo”) because it recognized that we were talking about an app or application, which is feminine. 

While each of these four translations were technically accurate, none of them were identical. And therein lies the problem. As a user of such tool, you will likely not be able to judge whether a translation is good, or which one is best, especially for advertising copy. You should be able to trust the spelling and accuracy, but you will need a native linguist to check and ensure that the localized copy has the same tone, voice and intention as the original, using the right words for your message and audience.  

Let me explain, and analyse some of the discrepancies we found:

Formality:

In our example, “your” can be translated as “tu” (informal) or “su” (formal/respectful). Both are good options but, fact of the matter is, no machine or AI can pick the right option for you. It is a personal decision, depending on how formal you want to address your audience. Only the person who knows the brand and its audience can make that choice. What’s more troubling though is when such choice is not applied consistently, as was the case with one of the translations.

Word choice:

Most noticeable is the translation of “Unlock”. Two of the apps we tested gave a literal translation whereas the other two used “Descubre”, meaning “Discover”, which probably would be the better choice for this particular copy. 

Another example is the translation of “deep discussions”, which is translated as “discussiones” or “debates”. Again, both will come back as viable options in the dictionairy but they are not quite the same, much like the word “discusion” versus “debate” in English.  

Same goes for “temas” (formal, subjects) VS. “cosas” (less formal, things). Both are technically accurate but “temas” is probably the better choice within context of this sentence. 

Masculin versus Feminin

This is particularly tricky in any Latin language. Every app had at least one concern.

Every tool we tested gave a reasonably accurate translation but they were all different, none perfect.  And, as far as technology has progressed, it will never be 100% when it comes to localizing advertisement copy. Not because it’s not smart enough (after all, it can learn and create anything you ask for). But, much like an artist’s stroke on a canvas, writing ad copy involves creativity and choices that are very personal.

Our advice, albeit slightly biased… Use these tools to understand what is being said, use it as a starting point, and save time.  But, if you care about your brand, turn to native linguists and copywriters for the best localized ad copy.