AI as translator: six things I got right in the first three months
Translation is the most unsung AI tool. Here are the six situations where an AI translator beats any online dictionary lookup.
Translation is where AI disappoints the least — and almost nobody talks about it. After three months of using it in practice, on everything from technical manuals to friendly correspondence, here are the six things that genuinely work.
What works
- Technical documents. User manuals and specifications translate precisely, because the wording is unambiguous.
- Shorter emails. For short messages in a day-to-day tone, AI translates better than the old tools — especially from Danish.
- Nuanced phrasing. I can steer the difference between “friendly” and “formal” with a single word in the prompt.
- Context. When I give the whole paragraph instead of one sentence, the worst mistakes disappear.
- Danish in return. Things translated into Danish sound real — not like dictionary syntax.
- Revision. I can ask for five versions and pick the one that sounds most like me.
What doesn’t work
Slang, wordplay and cultural references you have to fix yourself. And always read the final result out loud — it is the only test I know that catches the embarrassing mistakes.
Use the translator to save time on the heavy lifting — never as a substitute for reading the result.
