AI, Language Intelligence, and the Future of Localization with Semih Altinay – VistaTalks Ep 200

Artificial intelligence has been part of the localization industry for decades through machine translation and neural translation models. However, according to Semih, today's AI revolution is fundamentally different.

Rather than simply translating words from one language to another, modern AI systems are becoming capable of understanding intent, context, tone, and audience expectations.

As Semih explains, the conversation is shifting from translation accuracy to what he describes as "intent proximity", how closely AI can deliver content that reflects the original purpose and resonates naturally with the target audience.

This evolution has been driven by advances that simply did not exist a few years ago. AI models can now work with style guides, terminology databases, brand guidelines, quality evaluation models, and contextual information to produce significantly better multilingual content.

The result is an entirely new language intelligence lifecycle where translation becomes just one component of a much broader communication strategy.

00:00 – Semih Altinay, VP AI Solutions, Phrase

01:20 – Why AI Has Moved Beyond Translation

03:36 – AI as an Enabler, Not a Replacement

07:19 – Agentic AI and the Future of Localization Workflows

12:59 – Why Translation Doesn't Create Business Value Alone

17:02 – Connecting Localization to Revenue Growth

22:56 – Managing Quality, Compliance, and AI at Scale

30:18 – The Future of AI, Language Models, and Global Content

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