For more than 30 years now, I have handled countless Microsoft translations (English-Dutch), from large-scale software packages to UX and UA projects to AAA games.
These projects often included very technical texts and high-visibility content (B2C, B2B), both with specific terminology. And as a language service provider you always had to meet Microsoft’s stringent linguistic requirements.
All that used to be a 100% human effort, with texts being accurately and carefully translated, edited and proofed (TEP).
Now, Microsoft too has chosen the path of machine translation (MT) and artificial intelligence (AI), most likely to cut translation costs and publish their content and release their products sooner. I get that.
Whatever their reasons, however, this switch from human translations to these new tech tools has apparently also come with a different mindset, sacrificing quality over speed.
Microsoft’s MT/AI translation gone wrong
A clear example is this web page for their product ‘Microsoft Designer’, which I stumbled upon last week (see screenshot), where the word ‘image’ occurs 5 times. To my dismay, it was mistranslated 4 times and should have been consistently translated into Dutch as ‘afbeelding’ (an ‘illustration’). After all, it’s a graphic design and editing tool.
The MT and/or AI tool apparently misinterpreted the content and context, and based itself on Microsoft’s internal IT-related glossaries, where ‘image’ is defined as ‘a backup file that contains the OS, programs, settings and other essential files of a computer system’. So ‘image’ got translated 4 times as ‘installation copy’.
And, yes, Microsoft apparently just published the result without applying the stringent linguistic requirements they were known for back in the days of 100% human translations. #facepalm
Moral of the story? 💡
√ Don’t just accept and rely blindly on what MT and/or AI tools produce and insult your audience’s intellect with subpar output.
√ Don’t cut corners and undermine the trust your (potential) customers have in you and your products. If they see translation mistakes such as this one in your promotional materials, they might also wonder how much quality-oriented effort you put into your products.
√ Do the human effort: a-l-w-a-y-s hire a quality-minded professional translator/post-editor to check your MT- and AI-translated output before publishing/releasing it. It will prevent you from making embarrassing mistakes, such as this one.
You get the image… eh… picture. 😉
#Translation #TranslationIndustry #MTTranslations #AITranslations #HumanTranslation #QualityOverCost #LanguageProfessionals #MTPE #LinguistsMatter
© 2025 John Vanormelingen
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