MTPE
MTPE, machine translation post-editing, is a workflow where a machine produces the first draft and a qualified human editor corrects it. Under ISO 18587 it comes in two depths: light, which fixes only errors that change the meaning, and full, which produces output comparable to human translation.
How it works
In MTPE, a machine translation engine produces the first draft of every segment, and a qualified human editor works through it, correcting errors, fixing terminology and reshaping awkward output. ISO 18587 defines two depths. Light post-editing fixes only what changes the meaning and leaves the rest. Full post-editing brings the whole text up to the standard of a human translation.
The economics come from the machine doing the mechanical first pass. The human spends their time on judgement, not typing, which is faster than translating from a blank page when the machine output is good, and slower when it is poor.
How SourceTarget uses it
SourceTarget runs MTPE as its default workflow for suitable content: machine first draft, then human editing to the agreed level. Metrics on the raw output help decide how much editing a job needs and which segments to prioritise.
Anything published goes through full post-editing. Light post-editing is offered only where the client genuinely needs gist, not polish, and that trade-off is made explicit rather than assumed.
MTPE compared with Human translation
| MTPE | Human translation | |
|---|---|---|
| First draft by | A machine translation engine | A human translator |
| Speed | Faster on suitable content | Slower, from scratch |
| Cost | Lower for most content types | Higher |
| Best for | High-volume, repetitive or time-critical work | Creative, sensitive or very high-stakes text |