Why Translation Segments Are Holding Us Back

Have you ever wondered if translation segments still make sense?

For decades, segments have powered the localization industry.

They brought consistency, speed, and quality to a chaotic process. But as Gabriel Fairman explains in his latest vlog, what once freed us might now be holding us back.

“Segments are great… but they’re also a prison.”

What Segments Got Right

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Segments allowed translation to scale. They made it possible to:

• Reuse content
• Maintain consistent terminology
• Measure translator performance
• Build reliable memories across projects

This structure helped translation grow as a profession and an industry.

But segments were made for syntax, not meaning.

“They’re built for syntax-driven operations, not for semantic-driven operations.”

The Problem with Segments

When you work with segments, everything is treated as isolated strings.

That’s great for repetition, but it kills nuance. AI, on the other hand, thinks in vectors mathematical representations of meaning.

Imagine trying to funnel a fire hose through a drinking straw. That’s what it’s like trying to fit AI into segment-based systems.

“The kitchen pipes are the segments… and AI is really just a fire hydrant.”

Vectorization Changes Everything

In a vectorized environment, we stop thinking in strings and start thinking in concepts. For example:

• “John went to the store” and “John has gone to the supermarket” are different syntactically.
• But semantically, they mean the same thing.

AI can capture this with vectors. Numbers that represent meaning across languages, formats, even media types.

“You can correlate an embedding in Japanese with an embedding in Portuguese… or even with an image or sound.”

This unlocks powerful new workflows:

• Start from a target text, not the source
• Translate ideas, not just words
• Generate tweets, emails, and landing pages from the same source concept

Creativity and Freedom

Here’s the twist: AI isn’t here to replace translators. It’s here to liberate them.

“The most important part of this movement is freedom.”

With AI, translators and marketers can collaborate more creatively.

You can adapt copy, rewrite it, restructure it without being chained to a segment-by-segment flow.

The result? More authentic content and a richer sense of authorship.

“Authorship will become one of the most scarce and valuable things out there.”

Why It Matters

If we want to build better translations, and better content, we have to:

• Let go of rigid structures
• Embrace semantic technology
• Encourage creativity over conformity

And most of all, we need to value human expression.

“I don’t want to speak like a model. I want to speak like me.”

Final Thoughts

As AI changes how we write, translate, and adapt content, we’re entering a new era of language.

Segments helped us get here but they can’t take us all the way.

The future of localization is vectorized, human-centered, and full of creative freedom.