What is a Machine Created Translation Memory (MCTM)?
A Machine Created Translation Memory (MCTM) is a dedicated translation memory for content published or prepublished in Smartling's AI Translation (AIT) workflow. It allows you to store and leverage machine-created, AI-enhanced translations separately from human-generated translations.
Benefits of using a Machine Created Translation Memory
Traditionally, translations only get stored in your regular translation memory (TM) if they go through a workflow using human translation, or certain types of workflows using human validation after a machine or LLM translation step.
In recent years, machine-created translations have seen a significant increase in quality - especially with the advent of AI-powered features and workflows, such as AI Translation (AIT) by Smartling Language Services.
The use of AI features often represents a significant investment in the quality of your translations, even if no human is involved.
To ensure you can reap the full benefits and leverage translations which were translated using AI Translation (AIT) by Smartling Language Services, Smartling allows you to store them in a separate translation memory. This dedicated TM for AIT translations can be managed and leveraged separately from your human-generated TMs.
How it works
Once this feature is enabled, each of your Linguistic Packages can include two different types of translation memories:
- Your regular TM(s) for human-generated translations remain unaltered: All translations saved in a human translation step, as well as translations from certain types of workflows using human validation after a machine translation step, are written to your regular TM(s).
- Content translated with Smartling's AIT workflow is saved to a separate, Machine Created TM. Translations stored in this Machine Created TM can be leveraged for translations with Smartling's AIT workflow.
Which translations are saved to the Machine Created TM?
Translations published or prepublished in the AI Translation (AIT) workflow by Smartling Language Services are saved to the Machine Created Translation Memory.
- Translations are saved to the Machine Created TM once they reach the Published step of the AIT workflow, regardless of whether the AIT workflow includes a Light Post-Edit step for the relevant language or not.
- If translations in an AIT workflow are prepublished, they get saved to the Machine Created TM as soon as they are prepublished.
If your AIT workflow includes an additional Edit or Review step managed by your own team, the translations get saved to the regular, human-generated TM once an edited string is saved, or once an unedited string is (pre)published. See Machine Translation in the Translation Memory for more information.
Info: If a translation saved to the Machine Created TM is edited in the Published step by a human Smartling user, the original AIT translation will remain in the Machine Created TM. The new, edited translation will be written to the project's regular, human-generated TM.
Setting up a Machine Created TM
Follow the steps outlined below to set up and leverage a Machine Created TM.
Tip: If you prefer watching over reading, join our Smartling Community for a video walkthrough.
Creating a Machine Created TM
Similarly to your TMs for human-generated translations, you can create and use as many Machine Created TMs as required for your Smartling account. For example, different Machine Created TMs can be associated with different Linguistic Packages to store the AIT translations for various content types.
To create a new Machine Created TM:
- Navigate to your Account Settings > Linguistic Assets > Translation Memory.
- Follow the usual process to create a translation memory.
- Tick the checkbox "This is a Machine Created Translation Memory (MCTM)".
- Click "Create" to confirm the creation of this MCTM.
The label "MCTM" will be applied to indicate that this translation memory will be used to save AIT translations. This label will be displayed in the CAT Tool, as well as in your Linguistic Package and Leverage Configuration.
Adding the MCTM to your Linguistic Package (MCTM: Write to)
Once a separate Machine Created TM has been created, it can be added to your Linguistic Package. To do so, access and edit the Linguistic Package(s) associated with any project where the AIT translation workflow is used.
For each Linguistic Package, you will be able to select two translation memories to write translations to:
- Your regular "Translation Memory: Write To"
- This is your main TM used to save human-generated translations, as well as translations with certain types of workflows using human validation after a machine or LLM translation step.
- This TM can be left unaltered.
- The "Machine Created Translation Memory: Write To"
- Qualifying AIT translations will be written to this TM.
- From the drop-down menu, select one of the available Machine Created TMs.
To ensure this remains separate from your human-generated translations, only translation memories marked as "MCTM" will be available to select here. - If a Linguistic Package is not associated with projects where the AIT workflow is used, this step may be skipped.
Leveraging translations from a Machine Created TM
Machine Created Translation Memories can be added as a source TM to any leverage configuration in your Smartling account:
- Access the leverage configuration that you would like to add the MCTM to.
- Add the Machine Created TM as a new translation memory source.
- The available TM sources will be divided into two categories: MCTM (Machine Created TMs) and TM (regular human-generated TMs).
- From the dropdown, select your MCTM as the leverage source.
- Once the MCTM has been added to the leverage configuration, configure SmartMatch as per your preferences.
Note: Machine Created TMs are not used for fuzzy matching. Penalties cannot be applied to a MCTM. Please see our information and limitations on how MCTMs can be leveraged.
Where can Machine Created Translation Memories be leveraged?
Machine Created TMs can only be leveraged for translations with Smartling's AIT (AI Translation) workflow.
Tip: Other workflow options, such as Smartling's AIHT workflow, use a highly specialized combination of both AI and human translation that doesn't support leveraging from Machine Created TMs.
How MCTMs are leveraged
Once added to the leverage configuration, translations from a Machine Created TM can be leveraged in the following ways:
- By enabling SmartMatch.
- SmartMatch rules can be enabled or disabled as per your preferences.
- The Machine Created TM will only be used for SmartMatch in an AIT workflow. SmartMatches from a Machine Created TM will not be applied in other translation workflows.
- When a translation from a Machine Created TM is used for SmartMatch in an AIT workflow, the SmartMatched translation will write to the Machine Created TM.
- For TM Match Insertion in AIT translations, in conjunction with AI Adaptive Translation Memory.
- With Smartling's AIT workflow, translations from a Machine Created TM are only inserted if they are a 100% match, or if they meet the threshold of a 100% match after using AI Adaptive Translation Memory.
Info: Machine Created Translation Memories can only be leveraged for SmartMatch and TM Match Insertion in AIT workflows, but they are not used to create fuzzy matches. Therefore, it is not possible to configure a penalty for Machine Created TMs in a leverage configuration.
Machine Created TMs in cost estimates
For jobs where Smartling's AIT workflow is set up as the default workflow, the cost estimate automatically reflects any leverage and cost savings from the Machine Created TM.
If a job uses a dynamic workflow, the estimate takes leverage from a Machine Created TM into account if the default branch of the workflow is Smartling's AIT workflow and therefore supports leverage from a Machine Created TM.
If a locale uses any other workflow option, no leverage from the Machine Created TM will be reflected in the cost estimate for that locale.
Managing a Machine Created TM
Just like human-generated TMs, Machine Created TMs can be accessed from your Account Settings > Linguistic Assets > Translation Memory.
Translation Units in a Machine Created TM can be managed in a similar way to the Translation Units in any other TM. However, Translation Units in a Machine Created TM cannot be moved to another Translation Memory.