CULTURAL MISMATCHES IN AI-BASED ENGLISH–KAZAKH TRANSLATION

Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies has significantly transformed the field of translation. AI-based translation tools such as Google Translate, DeepL, and OpenAI systems provide fast and accessible translation services for millions of users worldwide. However, despite their technological progress, machine translation systems still face difficulties in preserving cultural meaning and pragmatic nuances, especially in low-resource languages such as Kazakh. This article examines cultural mismatches in AI-mediated English–Kazakh translation and analyzes how artificial intelligence may fail to transfer idioms, politeness strategies, emotional tone, and culturally specific concepts. The study applies comparative and descriptive analysis to several English expressions translated into Kazakh by AI tools. The findings demonstrate that AI systems often produce grammatically accurate but culturally inappropriate translations due to limited contextual understanding. The article argues that human translators remain essential in preserving national identity, cultural values, and communicative intentions in translation. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of developing culturally adaptive AI models for the Kazakh language.