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Aipedia: Translators and interpreters
Machine translation may be used for manuals, but an error in a warning or instruction can contribute to injury, and the manufacturer may then look to the translator. Safety text needs full human review.
Part of: AI in Translators and interpreters
In short
Manufacturers and technical agencies use MT heavily for user manuals, installation guides, warnings and safety data sheets, because the text is repetitive and the volumes are high. Engines handle routine text well but can drop negatives, change units or render a warning ambiguously. If a user is injured, the claim usually goes to the manufacturer or supplier under product liability law. The manufacturer may then seek to recover from the translator whose error contributed. Translators' PI usually responds to negligent translation claims, but treatment of bodily injury and product liability varies between wordings.
Technical translation was one of the earliest areas to adopt MT. Manuals reuse large amounts of text, so agencies combine translation memories with MT and send the result for post-editing. Generative AI tools are now also used to rewrite instructions for clarity and to check terminology consistency. The documents include product manuals, warning labels, maintenance procedures and safety data sheets.
CIOL's AI Voices white paper warns that organisations may cut corners when AI output seems "good enough". In safety text, output that looks good enough can still contain the one error that matters.
Safety text is different from the rest of a manual because the reader acts on it, often without a second source to check against. A user installing equipment, handling a chemical or servicing a machine relies on the warning in front of them. Translation memory and MT reward consistency, which is useful, but they can also carry an old or wrong segment into a new document, or apply a match from one product to a similar but different one. Those errors rarely look wrong on the page.
The translator owes the client reasonable care and skill under section 13 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. The manufacturer or importer carries its own product safety and product liability obligations, which this guide does not set out. Contracts with technical clients often allocate responsibility for review, and some require the translator to indemnify the client for errors. Read those clauses carefully.
Illustrative scenario: an agency post-edits machine-translated instructions for a power tool. In the safety section, the engine translated "do not remove the guard" as "remove the guard", and the post-editor, focused on terminology consistency, missed the dropped negative. A user follows the instruction and is injured. The user claims against the supplier, which says the translation was defective and seeks recovery from the agency.
Errors that often cause trouble in technical text include:
A user who is injured will usually claim against the manufacturer or supplier, which normally carries product liability insurance. The manufacturer's insurer may then seek to recover from a translator whose error contributed. That recovery claim against you would usually be handled under your PI as a claim for negligent professional work, subject to the wording. Some PI wordings exclude or limit bodily injury, or expect it to fall under public or products liability. Agencies that sell translation as part of a product package may need to check both covers. For contractual allocation, our translators' PI guide covers the basics.
For manuals and safety information, these steps reduce risk:
See also machine translation post-editing for scope and rate issues.
Apex arranges PI for technical translators and agencies. A broker checks how your policy treats claims that follow injury, and whether client indemnity clauses go further than your cover. Read Does PI cover AI mistakes? or return to the AI in translation and interpreting hub.
The injured user will usually claim against the manufacturer or supplier. The manufacturer, or its insurer, may then try to recover from you if your negligent translation contributed. Your contract with the client and the facts of the error will decide how that claim goes.
Many translators' PI policies respond to a negligence claim even where the client's loss follows an injury, but some exclude or limit bodily injury, expecting public or products liability to respond. Check your wording, especially if you translate safety-critical text.
It is risky. Light post-editing accepts some imperfections, and in warnings and instructions a single error can contribute to injury. Agree full revision for safety sections in writing, or decline to take on safety text at light post-edit rates.
Tell us about your firm and the work you do. A broker will review how your current PI treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start a PI quote Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
