Note that a feature of the system is that the work that the translator receives is always in a form that is easy for the translator to work with. The software provides a conversion feature whereby a complex document format like HTML is automatically converted to a simpler format that can be edited in a word processor. This reduces the possibility of a human translator damaging or corrupting a file while it is being translated. The system also uses a translation memory database, so that previously translated text can be pre-translated before it is sent to the translator, reducing the likelihood of work being repeated unnecessarily. This also helps to maintain terminological consistency in the completed translation, as well as reducing translation cost and improving turnaround time.
Human translators provide translation, review, post-editing, and quality assurance functions.
They are capable of high-quality output, but usually at high cost and long turnaround time. They can produce low to medium-quality output, at low cost and very fast turnaround time. It should be noted that the quality of output from an MT system is largely a function of the quality of its lexicons. Examples of MT systems are Logos and LogoVista. They are useful on a Web or e-commerce site because there is a high degree of content reuse in these applications.