From Speed to Scalability: Acolad’s Vision for AI in Multilingual Content

Delving into AI's multifaceted role in the language services industry and unpacking the challenges and opportunities AI presents, the session emphasizes the critical balance between technological efficiency and human connection.

AI as a Tool: Knowing When and How to Use it

“AI is a tool, not a silver bullet” was the main point of the discussion. While it offers tremendous benefits—speed, volume, consistency, error reduction, and freeing professionals to focus on high-value activities—its implementation must be strategic, especially considering the impact on cost is still not totally understandable and can even be misleading.  

According to Beninatto, creativity is now a requirement for Language Service companies. AI provides an opportunity to change the conversation from “cost per word”, the traditional unit used by Language Service Providers, to other types of units more relevant to its clients - documents, time, volume…. The point is that this allows the industry to rethink pricing models and performance evaluation - AI is the disruptor it needed. 

Integration and Change Management

Incorporating AI into workflows isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s about change management. Successful integration requires educating teams, adapting processes, and collaborating with partners who understand the industry and the tools. Stéphane Cinguino highlighted the importance of placing AI capabilities at the right stages of workflows, ensuring seamless integration while maintaining quality. 

This approach becomes even more critical when scaling operations across multiple languages. For global organizations managing content in dozens—or even hundreds—of languages, AI can augment traditional workflows. However, this augmentation must account for variables such as cultural authenticity, regulatory compliance, and operational constraints. 

For Cinguino, AI's true potential lies in its ability to touch every stage of the content journey and every person working through those stages, thus empowering the user - by promoting efficiency, enabling scalability, and allowing contextualization of content. 

The Human Element: Why It Still Matters

Despite AI’s capabilities, human expertise remains irreplaceable in many areas - as Renato Beninatto put it, “the fact that we can do something, doesn't always mean that we should” and humans remain the experts in the language industry. Project managers, quality assurance specialists, and linguists provide oversight, ensure cultural nuance, and offer a feedback loop to refine AI systems. This "human-in-the-loop" model is essential to prevent repetitive errors and maintain the authenticity AI alone cannot achieve. 

Cinguino illustrated this point with an example: while AI can learn about a country’s language and culture, it cannot replicate the depth of understanding gained through lived experiences. This is especially relevant when adapting content for specific markets—such as tailoring instructions for toy companies in countries with strict regulatory requirements. Though LLMs can learn a language, and about the country, it will always lack the deep understand the authenticity of the culture. To Acolad’s CTO, one of the main challenges for AI in the future will have to do with cultural nuances and overcoming bias. 

This means that despite its potential to enable scalability through automation and standardization, AI still misses out on the uniqueness and flexibility brought on by creativity. This led Renato Beninatto to comment that AI hasn't been as disruptive as generally described, but more of an increment to the industry - very impressive on a single task-level, and a significant technological advance, but still far from performing with same quality level for all languages, all types of content and all practical purposes.  

AI is a tool, with a time and place to be used. The key is balance - discerning when the usage of AI is appropriate and when human expertise remains indispensable. The value of organizations like Acolad and Nimdzi lies precisely in their ability to steer and guide customers in their decision-making and figuring out where AI can be a plus and where humans are still the best fit. Communication, at its core, is a human endeavor. Misplaced reliance on AI risks diluting the human touch that forms the basis of meaningful connections.

AI’s Dual Speed: Technology vs. Organizational Adoption

AI’s rapid technological advancements often outpace organizational readiness. AI seems to be excelling in subtitling, dubbing, and marketing content - with the results creating a "wow" effect - and that's where we are seeing the biggest technological advancements, with Legal and Life Sciences standing at the other end of the spectrum, still bound by the AI's regulatory shortcomings and the associated - or perceived - risk. 

Integrating these technological capabilities within existing frameworks requires time. As organizations navigate compliance risks, regulatory constraints, and internal hesitations, the speed of adoption feels slower compared to the technology’s potential. 

The panelists noted that the initial shock of AI’s capabilities is giving way to a more measured understanding. As technology plateaus, organizations are finding ways to adapt it thoughtfully.

Addressing accessibility and inclusion

AI’s promise to democratize access to information is still a work in progress. While AI excels in the most commonly used languages, it struggles with less-represented ones. To truly make AI inclusive, the industry must find ways to extend its benefits to underrepresented communities. This requires not just technical solutions but also cultural and linguistic sensitivity—a domain where humans remain essential.

The road ahead: AI and Language Services

And what does the future look like? For both panelists, AI’s strengths—speed, scalability, and efficiency—will undoubtedly shape the industry. Yet, the human element will continue to be a cornerstone, ensuring authenticity, oversight, and adaptability. Organizations must adopt a balanced approach, leveraging AI where it excels while recognizing its limitations. 

As Renato Beninatto aptly summarized, while likening AI to other transformative technologies, such as the internet or cloud computing, "We tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the short term and underestimate it in the long term." AI is here to stay, but its true potential will only be realized through thoughtful implementation, robust feedback loops, and collaboration between humans and machines. 

Acolad’s most recent webinar provided a compelling roadmap for navigating the language industry's complex landscape, reminding us that while AI transforms content creation and delivery, the ultimate goal remains the same: effective, human-centered communication.