A study evaluated consumer responses to marketing videos translated by a generative AI tool (HeyGen) versus human translators across English–Indonesian and Indonesian–English language pairs. Two online experiments involved participants in Indonesia (Study 1) and the United States and United Kingdom (Study 2), measuring language comprehension, accent neutrality, naturalness, and customer engagement intention.
AI translations were consistently rated as less natural and less accent-neutral than human translations. Language comprehension varied by direction: AI performed worse translating into Indonesian but better into English, reflecting differences in AI training data. Despite these perceptual differences, viewers were equally willing to like, share, or comment on both types of videos.
"These insights suggest that AI video translation is not yet a perfect substitute for human translation...", explains UEA in a newsroom post. Adding further, "But it already offers practical value".
The authors note several limitations: findings reflect a single AI tool, specific language pairs, one video per condition, and a single point in time, which restricts generalizability. They suggest future research should explore additional AI tools, languages, and translation contexts to further understand consumer evaluation of AI video translation.
Source: Journal of International Marketing; research led by the University of Jyväskylä with co-authorship from University of East Anglia (UEA).
Notes: This post was drafted with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed, fact-checked, edited, and published by humans.
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AI translations were consistently rated as less natural and less accent-neutral than human translations. Language comprehension varied by direction: AI performed worse translating into Indonesian but better into English, reflecting differences in AI training data. Despite these perceptual differences, viewers were equally willing to like, share, or comment on both types of videos.
"These insights suggest that AI video translation is not yet a perfect substitute for human translation...", explains UEA in a newsroom post. Adding further, "But it already offers practical value".
According to Jiseon Han, Assistant Professor at University of East Anglia: "For [online] marketers, AI can be a great choice when speed and straightforward messaging matter most, but when it comes to capturing tone, personality, and cultural context, human expertise is still irreplaceable".
The authors note several limitations: findings reflect a single AI tool, specific language pairs, one video per condition, and a single point in time, which restricts generalizability. They suggest future research should explore additional AI tools, languages, and translation contexts to further understand consumer evaluation of AI video translation.
Source: Journal of International Marketing; research led by the University of Jyväskylä with co-authorship from University of East Anglia (UEA).
Notes: This post was drafted with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed, fact-checked, edited, and published by humans.
Read next: Global Survey: 66% Say 2025 Bad Year for Country, 71% Optimistic 2026 Will Be Better
