New workflows open new opportunities

I recently read a line that made a lot of things click for me: “Fluent isn’t the problem anymore. Correct, on-brand, and governed is the problem.”

I agree, at least based on what I’ve seen with my clients and the shift that many translators and writers are feeling. What clients want from us has changed, but the steps to achieve it have not changed for the most part. For those involved in medical translation and medical writing, the steps to validate sources, interpret data, and think deeply about the implications of the words they produce haven’t changed much. Sure, some might use AI in between steps, but the actual skills are very much in use and are essential to create more than good-enough results.

When thinking about what I am able to offer to my clients, I try to take “translation” and “writing” out of the equation. If clients only wanted those services, they would just produce them internally. The reality is that many companies are still looking for partners that can solve their medical communications issues at different levels.

In the case of translators, I see the decline in income for many due to AI , and it’s easy to think that it’s the end of translation. And it is, in some sense, but if spending on localization is increasing. Where’s the money going? First, there has been a series of acquisitions that have conglomerated most of the specialized work to a few agencies. For us, the most important piece of the puzzle is that many companies are cutting out LSPs.

This last point leaves a gap in the market that freelance translators are uniquely positioned to fill. Translation agencies benefited from being a black box where text came in and text came out. Workflows, tools, and general know-how stayed inside. This also means that clients never saw the value beyond the words themselves. Here’s where we come in.

I’ve been approached by companies with no translation workflows at all, generating AI translations without controlled vocabularies, terminology governance, style guides, regulatory considerations, and much more. No wonder they are struggling! These clients need us to hold their hand and help them navigate the transition. They know that they are not getting great results, but they are also saving a bunch of money, so the trade-off kind of makes sense. We can help them find a sweet spot that makes sense for them.

Of course, you can opt for working only with clients that want human-made translations, and that’s completely fine. What I mean is that there are still gaps, many of them new, that translators can fill by shifting their approach slightly.

The adoption from AI among CME writers seems to be more positive, and I think that’s because the process is less of a black box. Supporters and providers understand the value that writers bring, and that their most valuable asset is their point of view and their ability to discern what matters vs what doesn’t.

In the end, I think transitions are scary, and many of us are in the middle of one. All I can say is that talking with other freelancers has improved my ability to see opportunities in the face of struggle.

Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash