Against the backdrop of the deep integration of “AI + Education,” this study focuses on the translation teaching of Applied English in higher vocational colleges, aiming to address the practical challenges in current teaching, such as the lag in AI application, the insufficient role transformation of teachers, and the weak digital literacy of students. By constructing an innovative “teacher-student-AI” interactive teaching model and a three-level process-oriented evaluation system, the research explores the practical path of AI-assisted translation teaching in pre-translation, in-translation, and post-translation stages. Through literature research, action research, and case analysis, the study summarizes standardized teaching templates for different professional scenarios and verifies the effectiveness of the teaching model. The results show that this reform can significantly improve students’ digital literacy and autonomous learning ability, providing a replicable experience for AI-assisted teaching in higher vocational education and promoting the transformation of translation teaching from “knowledge acquisition” to “competence enhancement.”