AI-supported term extraction in InterpretBank
FEEDBACK ON THE INTEPRETBANK
AUTOMATIC AI TERM EXTRACTION
TO CREATE A GLOSSARY
After two-year break, I thought I would give InterpretBank (IB) another try because
a) the preparation for my next assignment involved a 130 page text document and
b) I was curious about the latest AI developments of the programme, which have been announced everywhere.
In order to take advantage of the new AI functionality, I first have to upgrade my licence and consider the various options available. I decide to purchase a monthly subscription for freelancers, which I can cancel at any time. The process of purchasing and installing version 9.40 is quick and easy.
My goal is to extract the terminology from the large document as efficiently as possible, so I opt for automatic term extraction. The first improvement is that I can add a large PDF file by drag-and-drop and open it without any problem. It opens immediately and in a readable format (this was one of the reasons I had stopped using IB).
At the same time, I open the documentation on the IB website, which is helpful but not quite up to date (the screenshots show an older version with different icons in a different part of the IB window). To be fair, developments happen so fast that I understand how difficult it must be to update the documentation in time.
Note that the “Extract terms” icon is now placed below the “My Documents” frame, to the left of the “ParScroll” icon. The pop-up window shows several options:
– Extract terms with Cloud AI
– Create glossary with Claud AI
– Extract terms with Confidential AI
– Extract abbreviations with Confidential AI
– Create glossary with Confidential AI
– Extract key points with Confidential AI
I have tested 3 of them.
(For information, the following tests are performed on Mac OS Ventura 13.7.2 to create a 4 language glossary (EN-FR-DE-IT) from a 130 page PDF file in English.)
Test 1: Create glossary with Cloud AI / with Confidential AI
IB extracts terms and translates them relatively quickly. Unfortunately, the system does not give you the number of glossary entries. With Cloud AI, I get 6 pages of entries, with Confidential AI, the number of pages increases to 31. With Cloud AI the entries are technical terms and some translations need to be checked or changed. With Confidential AI, the list includes E-VE-RY-THING, including articles and prepositions, all in capital letters, so not really useful.
Test 2: Extract terms with Cloud AI
Result: 10 pages with a total of 82 terms (120 on a second extraction run)
The terms are extracted and can be processed, page by page of 10. Processing means inserting, searching in context in the document, marking as “not useful”, selecting for “insert into glossary” or “insert into glossary and translate”. The terms are in lower or upper case unless an acronym has been identified.
Test 3: Extract terms with Confidential AI
Result: 10 pages with a total of 596 terms.
The terms appear in lower case unless an acronym has been identified. Once added to the glossary, they are all in lower case. In another extraction run, all terms are listed in capital letters.
In all cases I have tested, once a term has been to into the glossary, it can be edited but not deleted.
After the AI has extracted the terms, I have to go through the 596 and decide which ones to keep, which ones to translate, check them in context, see if they’re properly capitalized, if they’re really acronyms, etc. It is a slow and tedious process. When I click on the icon for “Search the term in the preparatory document to understand the context of use”, a separate window opens with several examples if the term occurs several times in the document. Good. Not so good is that I have to click the red button in the top left-hand corner of the window again before I can continue.To save time, I would prefer the window to close automatically when I select another term.
It is possible to edit a single term by clicking on + (it is then inserted into the glossary mask and can be edited but cannot be deleted later). Alternatively, it is possible to insert several terms selected from the list and edit them later using the standard glossary editing function (pencil icon in the top right corner of the main IB window).
If I choose “insert and translate”, the system will take a bit longer, inserting and translating each term at a time while I wait in front of my screen.
There may be some shortcuts that I have not yet discovered. However, given that I only use IB sporadically, it would be hopeless to try to memorize shortcuts to the point where I could use them efficiently.
My conclusion is this: While IB seems to have improved and become more stable, preparing for an assignment with the AI term extraction feature requires some extra screen time, with little or no cognitive benefit over what I usually get from preparing with my own speed reading and touch typing skills.
