Q: What makes transcreation different from translation?
A: Transcreation blends translation and copywriting. It adapts tone, humor, and cultural nuance so brand messages feel native and emotionally resonant in each market.
Q: How can AI support transcreation workflows?
A: AI can flag cultural risks, suggest creative options, and speed brainstorming. It helps generate ideas, but final choices still require human cultural intelligence.
Q: Why must human creativity remain central?
A: Machines lack empathy and cultural sensitivity. Human review ensures campaigns connect authentically, avoid offense, and protect brand integrity across global markets.
Artificial intelligence can crunch data, mirror tone, and push out copy at lightning speed. But humor, emotion, and cultural nuance? Machines still struggle with things that make messages stick.
Our recent webinar, "Transcreation in the World of AI," brought together Dr. Alicia Chabert, Professor of English and Translation at Universitat Jaume I, and Felix Ustorf, Head of Translation Services at LanguageLine, to explore where AI helps with transcreation and where human creativity can't be replaced.
Three big insights emerged from their conversation.
Dr. Chabert broke it down simply: transcreation sits somewhere between translation and copywriting. It takes brand messages and reshapes them so they feel native to the target culture. Transcreation keeps the tone, emotional punch, and cultural relevance intact.
The examples speak for themselves: A Snickers ad that plays with misspellings. Yorkshire Tea leaning into regional grammar. Oatly's cheeky "It's like milk but made for humans" tagline.
None of these work with straight translation. They need transcreation to capture the humor, irony, and cultural cues that create genuine connection.
"Transcreation is creativity plus cultural intelligence," Chabert said. "It requires empathy, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to balance brand consistency with originality."
Ustorf showed how LanguageLine is experimenting with custom GPT models for transcreation work. The tools can:
AI showed real promise in brainstorming and speeding up idea generation. It even delivered some clever wordplay. But it also suggested risky or inappropriate options, including one mistranslation that implied "human milk."
"The greater the transcreation challenge, the more critical human creativity becomes," Ustorf said. “AI can support and accelerate the process, but decisions that affect brand perception still need human judgment.”
Both speakers emphasized that while AI tools might cut turnaround times, brands can't skip human review. A slogan that misses cultural context, offends people, or just falls flat can damage a campaign far more than it helps.
Chabert highlighted another concern: becoming too dependent on AI.
"Think first, use second," she said. "If we stop exercising our creativity, we risk losing it. AI generates patterns. It doesn't create from emotion or experience."
Their shared conclusion? Transcreation needs to stay human-led. AI can spark ideas and boost efficiency, but empathy, cultural awareness, and creative instinct are what protect a brand's authenticity across different markets.
Generative AI is changing language services, but it's not replacing the distinctly human ability to connect on emotional and cultural levels. In transcreation especially, where brand messages must feel authentically native to each culture, companies that treat AI as a powerful assistant while keeping human creativity central will be best equipped to genuinely resonate with audiences worldwide.
To learn more, contact your LanguageLine Business Development Manager or email us at translation@languageline.com. You can also visit our website to explore our complete range of translation and transcreation solutions.