AI translation is evolving fast, but not without drama. With DeepSeek AI getting banned in multiple regions only months after its promising release, one can’t help but wonder to what extent AI tools are to be trusted.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT translation remains the go-to choice for most, but is it really the best AI for translation? If you’ve ever used it for anything language-related, you know the results can be… fickle. Sometimes it’s spot-on, other times you end up almost throwing your laptop out the window.
And for businesses relying on AI for global communication, linguistic accuracy isn’t the only concern. Stability, adaptability, and long-term reliability matter, too.
We’ve tackled ChatGPT vs. DeepSeek AI for translation, comparing their strengths, weaknesses, and what their performance means for the future of AI translation.
Understanding ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI
To really understand their abilities, we need to look at how they actually work.
ChatGPT: The chatbot that translates (sometimes well, sometimes hilariously bad)
Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is built upon the GPT-4 architecture and designed as a general-purpose AI. It was trained on vast datasets comprising books, articles, and websites, enabling it to understand and generate human-like text across various topics. But is ChatGPT an accurate translator?
While not designed specifically for translation, its extensive training allows you to get an understandable ChatGPT language translation in many languages. It’s great for a quick translation of an email or document but struggles with nuance, idioms, and industry-specific terminology.
But it doesn’t actually “know” languages. Instead, it predicts what word should come next based on billions of existing texts. While this works well for general understanding, it usually struggles with nuance, idioms, or industry-specific terminology.
Where ChatGPT reportedly works well:
✓ Its multilingual AI supports over 95 languages and can process some more obscure ones, though accuracy varies wildly.
✓ Good at summarizing and paraphrasing.
✓ Prompts for translation in ChatGPT allow you to make texts “more natural”, “shorter”, or even “sound like Shakespeare”.
Where ChatGPT fails:
✕ Inconsistent accuracy – One sentence might be perfectly fine, the next complete nonsense.
✕ Idioms, cultural nuances, and complex sentences often don’t translate well, unless you bother explaining them in detail every time (and sometimes not even then).
✕ No real customization – Unlike dedicated translation tools, it doesn’t have glossaries, Translation Memory or industry-specific settings. It doesn’t learn from your Translation Memory, but only listens to your instructions, so you have to be a pretty good prompter.
✕ Vastly smaller datasets for non-english languages – ChatGPT translation quality drops dramatically as you move down the list of languages because there’s not enough data ChatGPT draws from.
✕ Concepts that are not even in the source text, and frequently also invents words that don’t exist (and mean nothing).
✕ Is ChatGPT4 better at translation? Not significantly – accuracy still depends heavily on the input prompt and the language pair.
While ChatGPT is useful for casual AI language translation, it’s not something businesses should blindly rely on for important content – especially anything public-facing or legally and culturally sensitive.
DeepSeek AI: the rising star (that’s already getting banned)
DeepSeek AI was launched in July 2023 by High-Flyer, a Chinese hedge fund aiming to develop a competitive large language model. It’s trained on 2 trillion tokens and uses a “mixture of experts” (MoE) model, meaning it activates specific sub-models for different tasks, potentially leading to more efficient multilingual AI translation.
Perhaps the most controversial part is DeepSeek AI’s claim that the training hasn’t cost more than $5.6 million. In comparison, GPT-4 training cost more than $3 billion.
Can DeepSeek do translation? Like ChatGPT, it can, and early reports suggest it’s especially strong with Chinese-English translations. Unlike ChatGPT, which is built for conversations, DeepSeek AI is marketed as a research-focused tool for high-performance multilingual processing.
However, its biggest limitation doesn’t seem to be technical as much as political. DeepSeek AI getting banned is definitely not a good look for its adoption outside of China, although it doesn’t limit access completely. DeepSeek AI is Open Source, unlike most things OpenAI (or should we call it ClosedAI?) released recently. This means one can run it on basically any device, without any fancy hardware or GPU. Banning it only limits access to the DeepSeek AI website, but you can still run it on your own hardware if you want to.
Where DeepSeek AI reportedly works well:
✓ The new reasoning model (DeepSeek-R1) is apparently more accurate than ChatGPT for certain non-English language pairs, mostly with Asian languages. However, it remains unreliable for production use.
✓ Maintains better consistency across larger texts (ChatGPT sometimes contradicts itself mid-translation).
✓ Some reports suggest DeepSeek AI is better than ChatGPT for technical content.
Where DeepSeek AI fails:
✕ It’s getting banned – The U.S. Navy, Texas, Virginia, and Australia have restricted or outright banned its use over security concerns.
✕ Data privacy is a big question mark – can we trust DeepSeek AI?
✕ Uncertain future – If bans continue, businesses risk losing access to a tool they’ve built into their workflows.
It may have some advantages in translation, but the controversies surrounding it aren’t exactly advocating for it.
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Head-to-head: ChatGPT vs. DeepSeek AI for translation
Neither tool was built specifically for translation – but that hasn’t stopped users from trying to make them a replacement for dedicated AI translation services like DeepL, Google Translate or Taia’s new AI Translator, or even human translators..
But how do ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI’s translation skills actually stack up?
We put them to the test.
We selected three hypothetical cases:
- A simple but idiomatic slogan (testing creativity and idiomatic understanding).
- A customer service message (testing tone, clarity, and fluency).
- A longer sales copy (testing consistency, flow, and persuasive language).
We translated them into one widely used language (French) and another, more obscure one (Croatian). We evaluated each tool based on the faithfulness to the source as well as effectiveness in the target language.
Test #1: Translating an idiomatic slogan
Original (English): “Toast the moment, not your wallet.”
| AI Model | Translation (FRA) | Translation (CRO) |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | “Trinquez au moment présent, pas à votre portefeuille.” | "Nazdravi trenutku, ne novčaniku." |
| DeepSeek AI | “Célébrez le moment, pas votre portefeuille.” | "Nazdravite trenutku, ne svom novčaniku." |
Analysis: Neither ChatGPT nor DeepSeek AI recognize the idiomatic meaning of the verb “toast” in this case. In English, toast can mean both “celebrate” and “ruin”, which makes it a great choice to convey the desired message. French and Croatian, on the other hand, don’t have a word carrying both meanings in the same way, so both AI tools picked up only on the “celebrate” notion. “Celebrating one’s wallet”, which is the provided translation in both French and Croatian, makes no sense whatsoever and completely fails to grasp the true meaning of the slogan.
Final verdict: There are no winners here. Human localization is fully needed for punchy, idiomatic translations with a purpose.
Test #2: Translating a customer service message
Original (English): “We really dropped the ball by sending you the wrong charger, and we’re terribly sorry for leaving you in the dark. Our support team is now bending over backwards to ship the correct part and make sure you’re fully powered again.”
| AI Model | Translation (FRA) | Translation (CRO) |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | “Nous avons vraiment laissé tomber la balle en vous envoyant le mauvais chargeur, et nous sommes sincèrement désolés de vous avoir laissé dans le noir. Notre équipe d’assistance fait tout son possible pour expédier la bonne pièce et s’assurer que vous soyez à nouveau pleinement chargé.” | "Stvarno smo zabrljali slanjem pogrešnog punjača i jako nam je žao što smo vas ostavili na cjedilu. Naš tim podrške čini sve što može kako bi vam što prije poslao ispravan dio i osigurao da ponovo budete potpuno napunjeni." |
| DeepSeek AI | “Nous avons vraiment échoué en vous envoyant le mauvais chargeur, et nous sommes terriblement désolés de vous avoir laissé dans l’ignorance. Notre équipe d’assurance fait tout son possible pour expédier la bonne pièce et s’assurer que vous soyez de nouveau opérationnel.” | "Doista smo zabrljali slanjem pogrešnog punjača i jako nam je žao što smo vas ostavili u neznanju. Naš tim za podršku sada se trudi na sve načine da vam pošalje ispravan dio i osigura da ponovo budete potpuno operativni." |
Analysis: ChatGPT completely fails to find an equivalent expression to “drop the ball” in French and opts for a literal option instead – to drop a literal ball from your hands. DeepSeek AI rectifies this by choosing the verb “échouer” (“fail”), but near the end decides to risk offending the customer by wishing them to be “fully operational again”. ChatGPT makes a similar blunder, wishing the customer to be “fully charged”. Alas, the English “powered”, referring to the customer’s gadgets rather than the customer themselves, doesn’t translate well as an adjective in other languages. Using “your gadgets” instead of “you” would have been a less offensive choice.
In Croatian, both ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI chose to use the verb “zabrljati” for “drop the ball”,, which gives off an unprofessional, we’re-amateurs vibe. It’s a colloquial word and doesn’t fit with the desired professional apologetic tone, risking annoying the customer even further. Moreover, ChatGPT’s “ostaviti na cjedilu” (“leave in the lurch”) is slightly more dramatic and personal than leaving someone in the dark, and not really appropriate here. DeepSeek AI leaves a slightly better impression with “ostaviti u neznanju” (“leave in ignorance“). Finally, like in French, the idiomatic “make sure you’re powered again” turns into a heartfelt wish for the customer to be “fully charged” and “fully operational”. Literal meaning – ok. The meaning you actually want? Nowhere close.
Final verdict: While technically and grammatically correct, both translations are more likely to further annoy the customer than reassure them. Again, there is no winner here, although DeepSeek AI does slightly better with some expressions.
Test #3: Translating sales copy
🛍️ Original (English): “Ever feel like your morning cereal is just a bowl of cardboard? Meet CrunchBliss – where every bite is a crispy, honey-kissed hug for your taste buds. Packed with whole grains and just the right amount of crunch, it’s the perfect way to start your day without the sugar crash. Say goodbye to soggy disappointment and hello to breakfast that actually brings the joy. One spoonful, and you’ll wonder why you ever settled for less.”
| AI Model | Translation (FRA) | Translation (CRO) |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | “Vous avez déjà l’impression que vos céréales du matin ressemblent à un bol de carton ? Découvrez CrunchBliss—où chaque bouchée est un câlin croustillant et doré au miel pour vos papilles. Remplies de grains entiers et avec juste ce qu’il faut de croquant, elles sont la façon idéale de commencer la journée sans redouter le coup de fatigue du sucre. Dites adieu aux déceptions détrempées et bonjour à un petit-déjeuner qui apporte vraiment de la joie. Une cuillerée, et vous vous demanderez pourquoi vous vous êtes contenté de moins.” | "Imate osjećaj da su vaše jutarnje žitarice samo zdjela kartona? Upoznajte CrunchBliss—gdje svaki zalogaj donosi hrskavi, medom obavijeni zagrljaj vašim okusnim pupoljcima. Prepune cjelovitih žitarica i savršeno hrskave, idealan su način za početak dana bez naglog pada energije od šećera. Recite zbogom kašastom razočaranju i dobrodošli doručku koji zaista donosi radost. Jedna žlica, i pitat ćete se zašto ste se ikad zadovoljili nečim lošijim." |
| DeepSeek AI | “Vous avez déjà eu l’impression que vos céréales du matin étaient juste un bol de carton ? Découvrez CrunchBliss—où chaque bouchée est un câlin croquant et sucré au miel pour vos papilles. Riche en céréales complètes et avec juste la bonne quantité de croquant, c’est la façon parfaite de commencer votre journée sans le coup de barre du sucre. Dites adieu à la déception détrempée et bonjour à un petit-déjeuner qui apporte vraiment de la joie. Une seule cuillerée, et vous vous demanderez pourquoi vous vous êtes contenté de moins.” | "Jeste li ikada imali osjećaj da su vaše jutarnje žitarice samo zdjela kartona? Upoznajte CrunchBliss—gdje je svaki zalogaj hrskav, meden zagrljaj za vaše nepce. Prepuno cjelovitih žitarica i s pravom količinom hrskavosti, savršen je način da započnete dan bez pada šećera. Recite zbogom mokrom razočaranju i pozdravite doručak koji stvarno donosi radost. Jedna zalogaja, i pitat ćete se zašto ste se ikada zadovoljili s manje." |
Analysis: In French, both ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI stick to the literal translation of “bowl of carton” – “bol de carton”, which actually means “carton bowl”, the one in which you usually get your salad delivery. “Le coup de fatigue du sucre” is a non-existent way of saying “coup de barre de 11h”, “somnolence post-prandiale”, “hypoglycémie”, “baisse de glycémie” or simply “baisse de sucre”. So many choices, yet none of them made the top. “Juste ce qu’il faut de croquant” is an awkward and stiff literal translation, as well as “déceptions détrempées”. Oh, and almost missed this one – “Vous avez déjà l’impression” literally translates to “Do you already have the feeling” instead of “Have you ever had the feeling”.
DeepSeek AI does it slightly, but not much better. A correct translation of “Have you ever” (“Vous avez déjà eu l’impression”) is a good start, but the “carton bowl” ruins it. “Un câlin croquant et sucré au miel” sounds a tiny bit better than ChatGPT’s clunky version, and the same goes for “la bonne quantité de croquant” and “le coup de barre” (although “du sucre” is unnecessary). Still, the translation as a whole remains too literal, clunky, and loses its selling power.
In Croatian, the situation is not much different. “Zdjela kartona” is, in fact, a bowl of carton, but it sounds awkward and strips the sentence of all sensation it is meant to evoke. Instead of comparing the bowls, an effective translation would’ve compared the feeling of eating cereal vs. the feeling of eating carton. Next, ChatGPT’s use of “donosi medom obavijeni zagrljaj vašim okusnim pupoljcima” is miles away from anything a Croatian person would say for something that tastes nice (although the same thing sounds good in English!). Simply removing the taste buds would do it. Alas, the AI doesn’t know that. “Nagli pad energije od šećera” should have been just “pad šećera”. Both “kašasto razočaranje” and “mokro razočaranje” sound disgusting.
And we have a winner – DeepSeek AI invents an entirely new word in the Croatian language: “zalogaja”, n.f. In fact, it is the genitive case of the noun “zalogaj”, m., and completely non-existent as a noun. But the not-so-very intelligent DeepSeek AI trained on Croatian datasets doesn’t know that.
Final verdict: In both cases, the sales copy is stripped down of any appeal. The job of the translated copy should be to evoke the same sensations as the original text, but that would require a completely different localization approach, rewriting, and deep knowledge of the target language. A difficult feat for any AI “translation” tool, and proof that AI-generated translations can’t replace human localization.
The best AI translator: ChatGPT or DeepSeek AI?
So, is ChatGPT an accurate translator? Is DeepSeek good at translation?
The short answer to both is:
It’s a tie – they’re both equally good and equally bad.
The long answer: If you don’t care much for accuracy or messaging, ChatGPT translation might be a slightly safer bet than DeepSeek translation – but mostly due to the uncertainty surrounding DeepSeek getting banned. Language-wise, they both pretty much fail the test at translating purposeful copy. Are they helpful for basic translations? Yeah. Can their AI translation replace human translation? Nope.
From hallucinating words to outright offending customers to ruining a deliciously crunchy copy, both ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI are, simply put, unreliable translators. Any AI-only tool is and will be for some time.
Furthermore, they cannot process entire documents effectively. In our experience, they end up randomly ignoring parts of content, hallucinating, or arbitrarily switching formatting mid-translation (ever got a whole text back in bullet points?).
For businesses that need reliable AI-assisted translations, it’s clear that AI translation alone isn’t enough. Generic AI models will always struggle with your desired nuance, brand voice, and linguistic precision – three things that make translation and localization good.
The next step in AI translation
All of the above applied for small-scale, one-off translations. What happens when you need to localize large amounts of content at scale? Which translator is 100% accurate? The answer: none. No generic AI tool has come up with a good solution – unless combined with human expertise.
That’s exactly why we’ve built Taia’s AI translation tool – a smarter AI translation solution that actually learns from your Translation Memory, glossary, and bran-specific language. Instead of giving you raw output based on elaborate prompts, it improves with every use, adapting to your needs and working alongside human translators for better accuracy.
And (almost) the best thing? Unlike ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI, Taia’s AI translation tool supports more than 65 file formats – what you upload is what you download, but translated.
Eva Legovic
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Frequently asked questions
How do ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI compare for translation?
Both tools can handle AI-powered translations but with significant limitations. ChatGPT is widely used and supports over 95 languages, but accuracy depends on the language pair, input prompt, and complexity of the text. DeepSeek AI is newer and reportedly performs well for Chinese-English translations and technical content. However, neither is built specifically for translation, leading to frequent errors with idioms, industry-specific terms, and longer texts.
Why is DeepSeek AI banned in some regions?
DeepSeek AI has been restricted by the U.S. Navy, Texas, Virginia, and Australia due to security concerns. While it remains accessible through open-source models, its uncertain regulatory future makes it a risky choice for businesses relying on AI translation for long-term projects.
How accurate is ChatGPT for translation?
ChatGPT translation quality varies by language and context. It often produces understandable translations but struggles with idioms, cultural nuances, and industry-specific terminology. For simple, informal texts, it can work, but for business-critical content, it lacks the precision and consistency needed.
Can DeepSeek AI be trusted for translations?
While DeepSeek AI claims high translation accuracy, particularly for Asian languages, its reliability is questionable due to bans and security concerns. Additionally, it lacks essential features like Translation Memory and glossaries, making it unsuitable for professional translation workflows.
Which AI translates less common languages better?
Neither ChatGPT nor DeepSeek AI is ideal for less common languages. ChatGPT struggles due to limited training data, resulting in poor accuracy for languages outside its strongest dataset. DeepSeek AI reportedly performs better for some non-English pairs, but its reliability is still unproven.
How well does AI handle technical translations?
ChatGPT and DeepSeek AI struggle with technical translation because they lack specialized glossaries and industry-trained AI models. While DeepSeek AI shows potential for technical content, neither tool guarantees accuracy or terminology consistency, making them unreliable for high-stakes documents.
Is DeepSeek AI safe for business translations?
Given its bans and unclear data security policies, DeepSeek AI poses risks for businesses handling sensitive content. Without transparency on data handling and compliance, companies should be cautious about relying on it for confidential translations.
Has ChatGPT’s translation improved?
ChatGPT-4 offers slight improvements over previous versions but still lacks key translation-specific features. Accuracy remains inconsistent, and without custom settings like Translation Memory, it cannot adapt to industry-specific needs.
Can AI replace human translators?
No. While AI translation tools can assist with efficiency, they lack contextual understanding, cultural adaptation, and quality control. Businesses needing reliable translations for branding, legal, or technical content still require human expertise to ensure accuracy and proper localization.
