Is Translation Really Art or Maths?

I am often asked this question in my travels and line of work. The answer appears obvious to the traditionalists, it’s art, but for others translation is a line of code and an algorithm on a screen and that’s pure maths, not art. So why should we even concern ourselves with this debate, why does it matter? Well, the answer to this question provides an insight into the industry that we work in. The purists may not be happy with the answer.

The Tools of the Translation Industry Trade | Tech Insight

There are an ever increasing array of sophisticated tools that online translation companies have at their disposal these days. Technology is now paired with human translation to provide more efficient processes, greater accuracy and consistency across projects.There is some confusion among the public about some of these tools and people are unsure about what the impact is on the end result for their translations. Today we are going to clear up the difference between machine translation and translation memory in an effort to shed more light on the translation technology used in the market.