However, the reality of implementing Generative AI is far more complex and fraught with challenges than it appears on the surface. It isn鈥檛 a perfect tool and can produce inaccurate or skewed content that then gets fed back to AI, leading to a phenomenon called 鈥渕odel collapse鈥�. This article will explore the weaknesses of AI-powered solutions in multilingual communication and consider why scrutiny and critique are crucial to ensure proper implementation of this technology.

McDonald鈥檚 failed experiment

The global fast-food giant McDonald鈥檚 attempted to automate its drive-through ordering process using AI, aiming to streamline operations and enhance customer experience. But the . The AI systems struggled to understand accents, dialects and even background noise, leading to a frustrating experience for customers. In video, two friends can be seen laughing as the technology mistakenly orders over 200 Chicken McNuggets for them.听

However, it鈥檚 not as simple as just casting AI-powered products aside because of such errors. The pressure to scale up quickly using this technology is very real and have had significant success with using AI for their drive-throughs, including Wendy鈥檚 and Panda Express. There鈥檚 no doubt that McDonald鈥檚 will explore other AI avenues in the future.听

Yet this cautionary tale reminds us that we are still in the early days of AI-enhanced solutions. If McDonald鈥檚 couldn鈥檛 make AI work reliably for something as basic as ordering a hamburger, how can we expect AI to flawlessly handle the complexities of our businesses鈥� multilingual content? Try to ignore the hype and remain professional when you consider content creation that requires a deep understanding of context, nuance and cultural sensitivity 鈥� areas where GenAI often struggles.

AI and translation

This brings us to the topic of content generation and translation, one of the most promising yet challenging applications of AI. Advanced language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT have allowed businesses to streamline their content creation processes, generating marketing copy, reports, summaries, social media posts and even complex articles with the click of a button. AI-driven translation tools have been promoted to companies looking for quick, accurate translations that can be deployed across multiple channels simultaneously.

However, AI is not infallible when it comes to understanding the subtleties and intricacies of human language. While AI can produce grammatically correct texts, it struggles with idiomatic expressions, cultural references and the context-specific meanings that are crucial for effective communication.

Getting multilingual content wrong due to AI mistakes leads to individual instances of misunderstandings, not dissimilar to what happened with McDonald鈥檚. But what happens when our content becomes so widely produced by AI that the incorrect results get fed back into the source and training materials, perpetuating and even worsening already grave cultural bias or linguistic mistakes?

What is model collapse?

One of the emerging challenges in the realm of AI is a phenomenon known as 鈥�. This occurs when AI models are trained on data that includes AI-generated content, leading to a degradation in the quality of the output. They start to reinforce their own errors, amplifying mistakes and generating content that lacks originality, coherence or meaning.听听

Model collapse is not just a danger to the quality of AI-generated content; it poses a broader risk to the entire ecosystem of AI development. As more and more content on the internet is generated by AI, there is a growing concern that the training data used by these models will become increasingly tainted, leading to a vicious cycle of declining results. have even coined terms like 鈥淢odel Autophagy Disorder鈥� and 鈥淗absburg AI鈥� to describe this self-destructive cycle, likening it to the way the Habsburg dynasty鈥檚 inbreeding led to the deterioration of their genetic line.听听

This issue extends beyond text to other forms of AI-generated content and is perhaps best illustrated by what happens to images. When AI models are trained on images that were themselves generated by AI, they can start to lose the ability to create realistic or meaningful visuals. The result is a kind of digital inbreeding, where the AI鈥檚 outputs become increasingly detached from reality and less useful for practical applications.

Can AI provide a potential boost to human creativity?

Despite the challenges associated with AI, experts argue that the situation is not as dire as it seems. Human editors can review and refine AI-generated content, correcting errors, adding context and ensuring that the final output meets the desired quality standards. This hybrid approach, combining AI鈥檚 speed with human expertise, mitigates many of the risks associated with model collapse.听听

Furthermore, many believe that the rise of AI-generated content will actually increase the value of human-created content. As more content becomes automated, the unique qualities of human creativity 鈥� originality, emotional depth and cultural nuance 鈥� will become even more valuable. If AI is employed to create the bulk of the multilingual content, human translators and editors will be needed to check, refine and perfect the output, ensuring it resonates with audiences in different cultural contexts.

Integrating AI into your multilingual communication strategy听

So, how should you be using GenAI?听 Implementing AI in content creation requires your teams to learn how to write prompts, set benchmarks for what good looks like, assess the output, consult reliable technology partners and have a clear strategy that actually saves time rather than just shifting the cost from one part of the content generation process to another. Without these, what was initially expected to be an advantage could quickly turn into a disaster, leading to operational mishaps, loss of customer trust and significant financial losses.听听

With the right approach 鈥� one that leverages AI鈥檚 strengths while acknowledging its limitations 鈥� you can use AI-powered tools to enhance your multilingual communication efforts. It鈥檚 interesting to examine where you save time and where you lose it, because whichever way you choose to generate your multilingual content, it must be quality controlled by a rigorous human review process.听

If you do choose to implement GenAI in your organisation, talk to our language experts here at Sandberg and make them a part of your solution through post-editing services and quality assurance checks, ensuring that your content is accurate, culturally appropriate and effective in conveying the intended message.听

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One way to make your audiences feel welcome and appreciated is to communicate inclusivity through language. Staying on top of what honours the humanity of each person that interacts with your content is not just about being politically correct 鈥� it鈥檚 about showing respect for individual differences, cultures and experiences.

However, if your content spans multiple languages, it鈥檚 hard to remain an expert in all of them. That鈥檚 where we at Sandberg can help. In this article, we discuss two of the most common inclusivity conundrums and share examples of solutions for them in English and the Nordic languages.

Gender and pronouns

Did you know that the non-binary pronoun they was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year in 2019 because of the significant increase in its lookups? It鈥檚 a plural pronoun that has doubled as a singular pronoun for more than 700 years. Writers including William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson and Geoffrey Chaucer all used the singular they in their work.

In the English language, there are many other invented gender-neutral pronouns today; ze, hir, E, per, xi, ip, thon, heesh, co, um and le, and some of them are older than you might think. But only they is used by everyone who speaks English, the others are used by a relatively small number of people and only in some contexts. In the English-speaking world, seeing pronouns listed in various places, such as a person鈥檚 email signature or social media profile, and the use of they as a singular pronoun, has become increasingly common.

Language that avoids bias towards a particular sex or social gender can certainly have an impact both in terms of gender neutrality and gender fluidity. All Nordic languages are working towards gender-neutral job titles, e.g. politibetjent 鈥榩olice officer鈥� instead of politimand 鈥榩oliceman鈥� in Danish, or 别蝉颈丑别苍办颈濒枚 鈥榮upervisor鈥� instead of esimies 鈥榝oreman鈥� in Finnish. In Norway, there was even a great debate on whether jordmor 鈥榤idwife鈥� should be changed, but it was eventually left untouched.

The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian languages all have gendered pronouns for the third person singular. In Sweden, the official dictionary was updated in 2015 to include a third, gender-neutral pronoun. The new pronoun hen was added alongside han 鈥榟e鈥� and hon 鈥榮he’ to refer to those of unknown gender or where gender is deemed irrelevant.

A neutral third-person singular pronoun hen or 丑酶苍 was also introduced into Danish, but how well it鈥檚 been adopted is difficult to say. It鈥檚 not yet in the Danish dictionary nor is it acknowledged as a pronoun by the Danish language advisory Dansk Sprogn忙vn. Offence may be taken, however, if you don’t write gender-neutrally. If using the new pronoun feels artificial, you can write han/hun 鈥榟e/she鈥� or use the word vedkommende which is gender-neutral, but sometimes difficult to incorporate into a sentence. Simply using personen ‘the person’ is also an option.

Norwegian takes a similar approach to Danish 鈥� the use of 鈥榟e/she鈥� has been common, as has vedkommende in formal communication. The new neutral pronoun is hen. The national language authority Spr氓kr氓det recommends using hen for those who wish to be referred to as such but adds that it鈥檚 not yet widespread enough for them to recommend it beyond this purpose. However, even the national broadcaster NRK has started using it sporadically.

In Finnish, none of the personal pronouns are gender specific, so the existing gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun 丑盲苍 continues to be appropriate in modern usage.

If you are in charge of content creation in the Scandinavian languages, your brand style guide should specify whether your brand wishes to use gendered pronouns, the gender-neutral pronoun hen, or any gender-neutral alternatives. The following table is a great resource to help inform your decisions.

Race and ethnicity

References to skin colour and ethnic background tend to be more common in English texts than in the Nordic cultures. In English, you can find extensive instructions on how to refer to a person鈥檚 skin colour; for example, when referring to race, you may capitalise Black but you always write white in lower case. This is because capitalising Black reflects a shared identity and culture rather than a skin colour alone. On the whole, it鈥檚 good to approach such advice with the caveat of it being correct 鈥榝or the time being鈥� because what鈥檚 considered acceptable and respectful changes over time.

In the Nordic countries, people tend to avoid mentioning skin colour or ethnicity if it鈥檚 not specifically relevant in the context. They may understand expressions like POC 鈥榩erson of colour鈥� and BIPOC 鈥楤lack, Indigenous, and People of Colour鈥� that are common in US English, but the concepts of identity behind such terms are not yet widely known in the Nordic culture. This keeps Nordic translators on their toes as they struggle to find and create equivalents that would convey the required meanings of empowerment and solidarity.

If a person鈥檚 background absolutely has to be mentioned, a neutral way might be to refer to a geographical area or region, especially if the person themselves has publicly shared it. Rather than 鈥淗e is Asian,鈥� say 鈥淗e is from Beijing, China鈥� or 鈥淗e was born in Beijing but moved to the UK at the age of 5鈥�. The rule of thumb is to be specific whenever possible, and bear in mind that even when a person has referred to themselves with a certain term, someone else using that term might still come across as offensive.

What does this mean for you?

When you wish to communicate through inclusive language in a language that you don鈥檛 speak, it鈥檚 best to work with an experienced team of linguists. In doing so, you should share brand style guides, tone of voice guides and other resources that make it clear exactly how you want to communicate with your audience so that the linguists can make the best decisions possible when localising your content. If you鈥檙e unsure of the approach to take in the target language, consider consulting with linguistic and cultural experts first to understand how far some of the newly coined expressions have been adopted in different languages and cultures.

It’s good to remember that your choice of words is never just about the person or topic you are writing about. It鈥檚 also revealing about you and the brand you represent. When possible, ask people which pronouns and terms they wish to use about themselves. By showing respect and inclusivity through this process, you can build a more diverse and loyal global audience.

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