Justice pushes agencies to use AI-assisted translations, when offering them at all
The Department of Justice is leading an effort to reduce multilingual services deemed “non-essential” across the government. When translations are needed for government products, DOJ is recommending that agencies use technology to get the job done.
The push to use artificial intelligence and machine learning is part of DOJ’s implementation of a March executive order deeming English the official language of the United States. That order rolled back another decades-old policy requiring agencies to enhance access for people that have limited English proficiency.
Although AI and machine learning could expedite translation work and potentially save the government money, the government’s own how-to resource on translation technology cautions that technology-assisted translations should still involve a human translator.
A new DOJ memo calls for “responsible” AI, but provides little detail on how agencies should address risk.
“Technological advances in translation services will permit agencies to produce cost-effective methods for bridging language barriers and reducing inefficiencies with the translation process,” the new guidance says.
“The Department encourages other agencies to follow its approach of considering responsible use of artificial intelligence and machine translation to communicate with individuals who are limited English proficient,” it continues.
The accuracy of AI-assisted translation generally worsens in more specialized contexts, like when the technology is used for legal or policy documents, according to Sonny Hashmi, the head of global public sector at Unqork and former appointee at the General Services Administration during the Biden administration.
And in these contexts, accuracy especially matters, he said, asking “what is the impact of somebody not understanding the instructions in a form … and as a result, missing out on a benefit that they’re otherwise owed?”
Agencies may want to either train bespoke models for these jargony situations, or have people validate the accuracy of translations and offer end users that have questions a clear way to get answers, he said.
The government’s own guide on AI and translation tells agencies to include humans in the process, something the DOJ memo doesn’t reference at all.
Agencies “should not rely solely on automatic machine translation services or computer-aided technology,” reads a government resource on translation technology housed on digital.gov, which is run by GSA. “All translations should be checked by a competent human translator.”
“AI can expedite and save costs substantially,” said Amy Holmes, partner and principal at Holmes Consulting Group, which is focused on data, AI and digital transformation. “But you need to have some guardrails in place to ensure that it’s accurate.”
DOJ offered no comment when asked about risk mitigation.
“You don’t want to just take a generative AI translation tool and just flip it on and assume everything is perfect,” said Michael Boyce, the generative AI lead for the civic tech group U.S. Digital Response, which has collaborated on translation work using generative AI in New Jersey.
Boyce, who formerly directed the AI Corps at the Department of Homeland Security, emphasized the need for testing and user input on AI-assisted translations.
Still, when technology can potentially speed up translations and help improve access, “you also are creating other types of downside risks” when you don’t use the tool to help translate government materials, said Boyce.
Cutting multilingual services
Trump’s March executive order didn’t require agencies to remove or stop creating products in languages other than English. A fact sheet about the order touts flexibility for agencies to decide when and how to offer services in languages other than English.
But Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memo does recommend that agencies determine “which of their programs, grants and policies might serve the public at large better if operated exclusively in English,” where allowed by law.
“The Department of Justice will lead the effort to codify the President’s Executive Order and eliminate wasteful virtue-signaling policies across government agencies to promote assimilation over division,” Bondi said in a statement.
DOJ “will lead a coordinated effort to minimize non-essential multilingual services,” the memo states.
The administration’s Department of Government Efficiency has reportedly already canceled at least ten language or translation service contracts.
Civil rights law requiring language access in federally funded programs and services remains on the books, although the DOJ did rescind its guidance on the matter under the latest memo, which also set in motion new, forthcoming DOJ guidance.
Critics say that the policies will harm taxpayers’ access to government services. The Census Bureau estimates that 8.3% of people in the U.S. have limited English proficiency.
“Diversity is what makes America strong and unique,” Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement after Trump signed the order in March.
“[This order] is just another notch in Trump’s belt of cruelty and xenophobia that will make it harder for people to understand and access essential services, like education and health care,” she continued.
