Understanding Machine Translation Post-Editing: What It Is and Why It Matters

Machine translation (MT) has come a long way in recent years. With the advent of neural machine translation (NMT) systems, machine-generated translations have become more accurate and natural-sounding. However, even with the most advanced NMT systems, machine translations can still contain errors, inaccuracies, and awkward phrasing. This is where machine translation post-editing (MTPE) comes in.

MTPE is the process of reviewing and correcting errors in machine-generated translations. It involves reviewing the machine translation, identifying, and correcting errors, and improving the fluency and overall quality of the translation.

MTPE is an essential step in the translation process because it ensures that the final translation is accurate, fluent, and appropriate for the intended audience. It also helps to improve the quality of the machine translation output and reduce the errors in the final output.

MTPE can be performed in two levels: Light post-editing and Full post-editing. Light post-editing is the process of correcting obvious errors, such as grammar and punctuation, while full post-editing is a more extensive process that involves correcting all errors, including those related to style, terminology, and fluency.

The benefits of MTPE are many. It can reduce the overall cost and time of the translation process, increase the quality of the final translation and improve the fluency and accuracy of the machine generated text. Additionally, it can improve the performance of the machine translation engine and help to identify the errors that need to be corrected in the future.

In conclusion, MTPE is a crucial step in the translation process. It ensures that machine-generated translations are accurate, fluent, and appropriate for the intended audience. By taking the time to review and correct machine translations, MTPE can help to improve the quality of the final product, increase productivity, and reduce costs.

However, it is important to note that MTPE is not a substitute for human translation. While MTPE can improve the quality of machine translations, it is not intended to replace the expertise and cultural understanding of a human translator. It is a complementary service that should be used in conjunction with human translation.

In the end, MTPE is a valuable tool for businesses and organizations that rely on translation services. By choosing to use MTPE services, businesses can ensure that their translations are accurate, fluent and appropriate for their intended audience, while also reducing costs and increasing productivity. With the ever-evolving field of machine translation, MTPE is becoming an essential step in the translation process.

A Brief History of Machine Translation Post-Editing

The history of machine translation post-editing (MTPE) can be traced back to the early days of machine translation (MT) in the 1950s. While early MT systems were able to translate simple phrases, they produced highly inaccurate translations. As a result, human editors were often needed to review and correct machine translations.

In the 1980s, the development of rule-based machine translation (RBMT) systems improved the accuracy of machine translations, but they still required extensive pre-processing of the source text and human editors were still needed to review and correct machine translations.

With the advent of statistical machine translation (SMT) in the 1990s, the accuracy of machine translations improved, but they still had their limitations and required human editors to review and correct them.

In recent years, the development of neural machine translation (NMT) has greatly improved the quality of machine translations. However, even with the most advanced NMT systems, machine translations can still contain errors, inaccuracies, and awkward phrasing. This is where MTPE comes in.

MTPE is the process of reviewing and correcting errors in machine-generated translations. It involves reviewing the machine translation, identifying, and correcting errors, and improving the fluency and overall quality of the translation.

MTPE has become more popular in recent years as businesses and organizations rely more heavily on machine translation to help bridge the language barrier, but also to improve their productivity and cost-efficiency. MTPE is now considered an essential step in the translation process, and it is used to ensure that machine-generated translations are accurate, fluent, and appropriate for the intended audience.

With the increasing use of MTPE, the industry has developed various tools and techniques to support the process, such as guidelines, quality assessment, and training modules. Additionally, machine learning and AI are being used to enhance the performance of MTPE and make the process more efficient.

One of the most significant advancements in MTPE has been the introduction of the ISO 18587 standard, which provides guidelines and requirements for MTPE service providers. This standard ensures that MTPE services are performed to a consistent and uniform quality standard, and it provides a framework for the assessment of MTPE performance.

In conclusion, MTPE has come a long way since its inception in the 1950s. The history of MTPE is closely tied to the history of machine translation, and the development of MTPE has been driven by the need to improve the accuracy and fluency of machine-generated translations. Today, MTPE is an essential step in the translation process and plays an important role in ensuring the quality and fluency of machine-generated translations.