Where AI genuinely reduces cost, where it moves cost rather than removing it, and how to read a quote that includes AI in the workflow.
View references (1) ↓- Where the saving is real
- Where the cost moves instead of disappearing
- How to read a quote
Where the saving is real
On high-volume, repetitive, low-consequence content, AI removes genuine cost. Draft production is the largest single labour component of traditional translation, and automating it on this class of content is a straightforward saving.
The same applies to content that is highly similar to work already done. With a mature terminology base and translation memory, much of a revision may already be decided.
Where the cost moves instead of disappearing
On specialist content, editing a flawed draft can take longer than translating from scratch — the reviewer has to detect errors that read as correct, which is slower than producing correct text directly.
This is why an unusually low quote for regulated or highly technical content is worth questioning. Check whether review scope, reuse, formatting and your own approval work are comparable before drawing a conclusion from the rate.
How to read a quote
Ask what the price includes at the review step, not just the per-word rate. Two quotes with the same rate can differ entirely in whether a domain specialist reads the full document, whether a separate QA audit runs, and whether terminology work is included.
Ask also what happens on the next project. A provider building a reusable terminology asset is producing something that lowers your future cost; one that starts fresh each time is not.