Is your AI translation process saving you time and money, or creating hidden work and risk?
AI translation can make multilingual content faster and cheaper, and for plenty of content it does exactly that. The tool, though, is only one part of the process.
How well it works also depends on how it's been set up, what it knows about your organisation, who checks what comes out and whether every type of content is getting the right level of human attention.
This health check will show you where your process is already working well, and where a bit more structure or expertise would save you time.
For each statement, choose the answer that best reflects how things work today. Your score adds itself up as you go.
| Yes | 3 |
| Partly | 2 |
| Not sure | 1 |
| No | 0 |
We don't use the same AI translation process for every type of content.
We've agreed which content can use AI alone, which needs human review and which should go to a professional linguist.
Our AI process uses approved terminology, product names, previous translations and tone-of-voice guidance.
Corrections to terminology and brand language get captured and applied next time, rather than fixed by hand on every job.
We check for inaccuracies, omissions and changes in meaning, not just whether the translation reads fluently.
Higher-risk or specialist content is checked by someone who knows both the language and the subject.
Our reviewers know what they're responsible for checking, and aren't expected to rewrite large amounts of AI output.
We know how much internal time goes on checking, correcting and managing AI translations.
Our tools and workflows can handle the file formats we use without creating significant manual preparation or rework.
We know how our content is stored, used and protected by the AI tools we use.
Someone owns the final quality of AI translations and knows when to bring in professional support.
We use reviewer feedback, corrections and performance data to improve the next translation.
The three bands below show what each score range tends to mean.
You've got most of the right pieces in place. There's probably still room to cut review time, sharpen the customisation and make your workflows more consistent as your use of AI grows.
You're getting real benefits from AI, but parts of the process likely rely on manual effort, on what one or two people happen to know, or on controls that vary from team to team. A bit more structure would improve quality and take work off your team.
The output may be fast, but gaps in setup, review, ownership or governance can show up later as errors, inconsistency and unplanned internal work. That doesn't mean AI is the wrong choice. It may simply need better context, controls and expertise around it.
If the health check has highlighted areas you'd like to improve, we can help in two ways.