François Chartrand

Whether or not we are in a Post-Localization Era can be the subject of some debate, as a vast number of organizations are still trying to figure out how to trust AI, let alone harness and leverage it. This does not negate the fact that AI will inevitably drive the transition from language-centric tasks to global content creation: the possibility to quickly create multilingual content—albeit generic and unimaginative—at little cost is too commercially attractive for this trend to be reversed.

From a purely translation standpoint, what we are most clearly noticing—at least within the most discerning organizations—is the adoption of distinct quality levels, depending on the nature and importance of the content to be localized. Interestingly, the “responsibility” for the quality of the localized content seems to be shifting from the LSP to the user, who is now tasked with choosing how their content will be translated or adapted, whether it is using AI, content-curated machine translation, MT with varying levels of post-editing, or professional translation—a process that now incorporates all of these elements.

Until the next real paradigm shift, we believe that the best LSPs will navigate these changes by offering comprehensive, value-added AI solutions combined with specialized professional services, empowering clients to make informed choices about their content's translation and adaptation.