Public Administration Must Ensure Quality Translation

The use of translation applications in the healthcare sector poses significant risks to patient safety, as instructions based on incorrectly translated texts, unverified by humans, can lead to dangerous situations. Public administration must ensure proper linguistic work to prevent compromising patient safety.

Professional translators and interpreters adhere to ethical standards, ensuring data security while producing high-quality translations and interpretations. In contrast, translation applications, including machine translators and AI language models, may not be secure, and the quality of their output cannot be guaranteed. The article strongly advises against outsourcing linguistic tasks solely to machines, emphasizing that a human must ultimately be responsible for the quality of language-related information within the service process.

Public administration has a responsibility to educate its employees about the dangers of AI-based applications and to ensure that workplaces possess the necessary linguistic, translation, and interpretation expertise. The Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters consistently recommends the use of professional translators for demanding public administration translations concerning human health, well-being, patient safety, and legal security. While AI may alter the nature and needs of language work, maintaining quality remains paramount.

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It is dangerous to undertake responsible nursing work if the instructions are based on an incorrectly translated text that a person has not checked.