AI translation is showing up in more places than you might think. It powers real-time support chat, helps companies localize websites in hours instead of weeks, and makes it easier to manage all kinds of content in multiple languages.
A retail brand launching in five new markets? They’re likely using AI to translate thousands of product descriptions overnight. A SaaS company onboarding global customers? AI helps them turn help center content into multiple languages before the end of the sprint.
In this article, we’ll look at the most practical, real-world applications of AI in translation, and what to consider before putting it to work.
🤖 AI translation has come a long way
At Lokalise, we know there is incredible potential in using AI translation, and we’re here to tell you the technology has advanced in incredible ways. Still, you need to be aware of the limitations and use AI responsibly. This guide will help you learn how to do that.
What is AI translation?
AI translation is about using tools that translate content from one language to another using artificial intelligence. AI is first trained on massive amounts of multilingual data to understand how language works. Then it generates translations that sound natural and make sense in context.
Instead of translating word by word, AI looks at the entire sentence (or even the full paragraph) to figure out what you’re trying to say. Then it rewrites it in another language.
It’s fast, scalable, and getting better all the time. But it’s not perfect. How well it works depends on what you’re translating and how much context the AI has to work with.
🧠 Did you know?
The best AI translation tools can translate an entire website or app into 10+ languages in just a few hours. What used to take weeks of back-and-forth now fits into a single workday, especially when you use tools built for speed and accuracy.
Key applications of AI translation
AI translation is used to localize apps, websites, and content quickly across languages. It also powers real-time communication, customer support, and high-volume translation at scale.
Let’s take a closer look at the key applications of AI translation and explain why it’s valuable.
| Use case | Example scenario | How AI translation helps |
| App and website localization | Launching a mobile app in 10+ countries | AI speeds up the translation of interface text and content while maintaining consistency |
| Product UI translation | Translating buttons, labels, and in-app messages | Automates UI text translation and integrates directly into dev workflows |
| Knowledge base & help center content | FAQs and support articles in multiple languages | Quickly translates high-volume support content |
| Customer support | Responding to support tickets from users around the world | Enables instant translation of incoming and outgoing messages |
| Marketing campaign localization | Running the same ad campaign across five regions | Speeds up campaign delivery (instantly adapts messaging into multiple languages) |
| Healthcare content translation | Making medical guidance accessible in more languages | Allows fast, scalable translation of complex medical content |
| Internal communications | Sending internal updates to international teams | Ensures internal comms are understood by all employees |
| E-commerce product descriptions | Localizing thousands of product listings for global storefronts | Translates detailed product copy at scale while preserving terminology and brand voice |
| User-generated content | Translating customer reviews or community posts | Automatically translates large amounts of content |
| Subtitle and video | Adding translated subtitles to product videos | Quickly generate multilingual subtitles for better reach across different markets |
| Game localization | Translating dialogue, menus, and in-game text for international players | Speeds up translation while maintaining consistency and taking cultural context into account |
Benefits of AI translation (with examples)
AI translation helps you move faster and reduce translation costs. It’s able to handle large volumes of content instantly. If you combine it with translation memory and glossaries, you can significantly improve consistency across languages.
1. Translating at scale, without increasing headcount
AI helps teams translate large volumes of content quickly, and without burning through time or budget. The truth is, when you’re entering multiple markets or managing content in dozens of languages, manual translation is not going to cut it.
How Life360 translated over 500,000+ words into five languages using AI translation
Life360, a location-sharing app with millions of users, used Lokalise AI to translate 500,000+ words into five languages in just one month. That would’ve taken weeks (or months) with a traditional setup.
By using AI for the initial translation and reviewing the output with their internal teams, they saved time and significantly cut costs (without compromising on quality).
“Where AI excels is when you have a large volume. With AI, we cut time in less than half and costs by 80%, so big savings in time and money with the same output at the end. ” ~ Joaquín Muñoz, Localization Manager at Life360
🤖 How AI helps with translating at scale
AI can translate thousands of words in minutes. And when combined with translation memory and glossaries, it can do so consistently across every string, feature, and screen. This makes it more sophisticated compared to machine translation.
2. Faster product localization
If you’re after global markets, every new feature release needs to ship in multiple languages (and fast). AI translation fits directly into dev and content workflows, making it possible to localize continuously, not just at the end.
How Confirm goes live with new languages in 8 days
Confirm, a US-based HR tech startup, used Lokalise AI to automate 90% of their translation work across eight languages. They integrated Lokalise directly into their development pipeline. This allowed their engineers to push translated content without delays or manual handoffs.
“The quality of the automatic translations significantly exceeded my expectations. We haven’t received a single complaint concerning anything related to the localized versions of our software.” ~ David Murray, CEO at Confirm
🤖 How AI helps with product localization
AI can take care of the heavy lifting. It automatically translates product copy, UI text, and feature updates in seconds. Instead of waiting for handoffs between dev and translation teams, content flows straight from your codebase into localized versions. It speeds up releases, reduces manual work, and keeps global users in the loop.
3. Instant multilingual customer support
Customers expect support in their language. But hiring native speakers for every market isn’t always realistic. AI translation helps support teams deliver consistent, helpful answers immediately, even when the customer support agent is not available.
How Playtomic responds to non-native tickets 76% faster
Playtomic, a fast-growing sports booking app, used Lokalise Messages to handle customer support in over 100 languages without hiring native speakers for each one.
Before using AI translation, agents were manually pasting messages into translation tools. After the switch, they cut response times by 76% for non-native language tickets, which helped them scale support globally,
“We prefer to have good people with good experience, who provide a good service without the need to speak 15 languages.” ~ Giulio Castiglioni, Global Head of Customer Care at Playtomic
🤖 How AI translation helps with multilingual support
AI translation technology has come a long way. Today’s tools allow support teams to respond in dozens of languages in an instant. Instead of hiring native speakers for every market, teams can use AI to translate incoming messages and replies in real time. It means faster responses, happier customers, and global coverage without new hires.
Limitations and challenges of AI translation
AI translation is fast and efficient, but it’s not flawless. It can miss context, tone, and cultural nuance. That’s why a post-editing and human review are still irreplaceable, especially for high-stakes content.
AI can miss the mark when it comes to tone and nuance
AI is great at translating words, but it doesn’t always the feeling behind them. Humor, sarcasm, or emotional tone can get lost. This is risky, especially in marketing or creative content.
AI translation tools don’t always understand context
AI doesn’t actually “understand” language the way humans do. Without enough context, it might misinterpret technical terms, slang, or even entire sentences. This is why it’s important to provide context and feed it with translation memories and glossaries.
It can sound unnatural
Even when AI gets the meaning right, the result can still sound robotic or slightly off. That’s a problem when you’re trying to build trust or sound like a native speaker. Some tools such as DeepL claim to offer near-human-level translations that sound natural, but it’s best that you test them before committing to a paid plan.
It can’t adapt to brand voice (unless you train it to)
AI doesn’t instinctively know how your brand sounds. You cannot expect it to automatically pick this up from the source text. Without training or a glossary, your tone can shift from warm and friendly to formal and flat between languages.
AI translation may reinforce existing biases
Let’s be clear on one thing. AI learns from existing data. This sometimes includes outdated or biased language. Left unchecked, it can carry those issues into your translations without you realizing it. The antidote? Proper human review and quality assurance.
Every industry can win with AI translation
AI translation is becoming a practical advantage across every industry imaginable.
Product teams are using it to launch in new markets faster.
Support teams are scaling without hiring dozens of native speakers.
Healthcare apps are reaching patients in their native language.
Marketing teams are testing campaigns across multiple regions in the time it used to take to launch one.
It’s not a question of whether you should use AI in translation. It’s more about the how. The smartest teams combine AI speed with human oversight. You should never cut corners but find a way to scale smarter.
Lokalise AI was built with that in mind. It helps you move fast, stay on-brand, and plug translation into your workflow, but without losing control over what matters.
It helps you get 80% of translations right from the first go, which means you can translate 10x faster.If you’re ready to see how it fits into your team’s way of working, try Lokalise AI.
