I’ve noticed a trend lately: more and more clients are handing over raw AI translations and asking for a “quick quality check,” assuming the draft is already almost perfect.

With all the misinformation out there about AI, we really can’t blame them. But if we let these misconceptions stand, we do our clients—and ourselves—a tremendous disservice. The truth is, we simply can’t deliver premium work built on top of a flawed, client-provided machine translation. And if they keep thinking AI translations are already good enough, then they won’t get all the value we can provide them.

We have to gently bring clients to an understanding of the situation.

To help you communicate this effectively, I’ve prepared a one-page talking points reference sheet. It gives you the exact words to use when a client comes to you with this request.

Inside, you’ll find:

• The counter-intuitive first question you should ask to immediately reset their expectations.

• The four hidden flaws in standard MT that end-clients completely overlook.

• The “plowed field” metaphor that explains why fixing bad AI costs more than doing it right from scratch.

This is a single page designed to be printed and kept by your desk and you can grab it right here.