Comments on: Artificial Intelligence and Translation

By: CoargoPyday

CoargoPyday — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:32:40 +0000

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By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:02:27 +0000

Very interesting comments all. Thanks, you thoughtful posters!

It was an MT guy, Glenn Akers, the CEO of Language Engineering Corporation, who said, “Language is the sum of all human knowledge.” Can’t argue with that, right? So when you get there, you’re done. So when the lawyer doesn’t need the translator but can use a machine, its likely that a machine will be a better lawyer than the lawyer.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:09:29 +0000

I hope you didn’t press that button, Tristen. I mean JR trains run on time…. what if that translation turned out to be correct?

By: Brian Mathis

Brian Mathis — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:17:46 +0000

first of all artificial intelligence is way long concept…it is not only a program but it a also is like a brain which can think like a brain and perform like it…it is based on nano technology..whis can perform many tasks by itself at atime without any man power……like supercomputers…..AI and robotics is giving life to it

By: David Dunn

David Dunn — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:08:55 +0000

It’s easy to forget that not all household robot companions serve as cleaners or personal assistants, but the new Qbo robot is here to remind us they can provide some good entertainment as well.
What’s cool about this robot is that it runs on the Linux operating system, meaning it has an open source code and can be modified in various ways. Some of its features include both omnidirectional and unidirectional microphones installed in its head, as well as high-def webcams that serve as eyes. The eyelids don’t do anything special, but they add a bit of that human touch. Very cool!

By: Tristen Merrill

Tristen Merrill — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:32:31 +0000

It doesn’t matter with marketing but recently I was riding on a JR bus, the most important transportation company in Japan (I’m sure you’ve heard of them Ken), and found this plate in the small toilet:
“PRESS TO FLASH” … is it a misspell, or they literally take a picture of you while…?!
I know that Japaneses have a passion for taking pictures… but…

By: Kenneth Strong

Kenneth Strong — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:24:15 +0000

One of the many problems that corporations face when expanding their business globally is not only the proper translation but the appropriate localization of their products’ names and slogans. Over the years, there have been many, many examples of directly translated product names, slogans, and catchphrases that have offended and/or confused consumers, and sometimes completely embarrassed the company responsible.

By: John Winn

John Winn — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:03:04 +0000

I still believe that It’s not completely Impossible within, let’s say, 10 years… Science sometimes can create miracles : )

By: Kent Seegmiller

Kent Seegmiller — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:52:46 +0000

Until we can program something capable of human thought patterns of learning, discernment, common sense, and extrapolation — effectively making artificial intelligence on par with the human brain, any true, worthwhile translation program is nothing more than a dream. Some of the romantic languages are similar enough that translation programs you are familiar with can give you a very rough idea of what the original text was saying, but every Japanese to English, or English to Japanese translator that I have seen horribly butchers and messes up even the most simple sentences — which is only to be expected.This is because languages — especially when comparing such languages as Japanese and English — are entirely dependent upon context and interpretation. In a majority of instances, for example, there are not even simple Japanese-English equivalents of words. There is usually a large number of Japanese words — each with slightly different meanings or nuances, that can be translated as any one English word. The vice-versa is also true. Furthermore, translation programs usually cannot even make out the subject and predicates of sentences when translating between Japanese and English! This is because Japanese is a highly context dependent language. Once a subject is stated — or even if it isn’t, it is often omitted and it is assumed that the listener knows what the speaker is talking about.
To give an example, I will translate a short dialogue with varying degrees of directness and English interpretation. The below is taken from Erai Tokoro ni Totsuide Shimatta, with my own translations:
Iさん「キミちゃん、なんか怒ってんの？
Direct Trans.: Kimi-chan, something/or-something being-mad?
Natural Trans.: Kimi-chan, are [you] upset or something?
Kさん「見て分かれ！
Direct Trans.: See-and-understand!
Natural Trans.: Can’t [you] tell?
Iさん「分かった！
Direct Trans.: Understood!
Natural Trans.: [I've] got it!
Iさん「またむっちゃな仕事しつけられたんでしょう。
Direct Trans.: Again ridiculous work forced on I-think/I-guess/right?/deshou.
Natural Trans.: [They] forced demanding work [on you] again, didn’t [they]?
Kさん「ぜんぜん分かってない！
Direct Trans.: not-at-all/entirely not-understanding!
Natural Trans.: [You] don’t understand at all!
Kさん「原因はお母さんだよ。
Direct Trans.: cause/source/origin is mother [emphasis].
Natural Trans.: The cause is [your] mother.
Kさん「毎日毎朝毎晩電話かけてきて
Direct Trans.: everyday everymorning everynight phone come-calling
Natural Trans.: [She's] calling every day, every morning, every night!
Kさん「実家に誘うのをやめていただけないか？
Direct Trans.: can-have-stop to one’s-parent’s-home inviting?
Natural Trans.: Could [you] have [her] stop inviting [us] over to [your] house?
Iさん「母さんキミちゃんのこと気に入ってくれたんだ！
Direct Trans.: Mother did-for-be-pleased-with thing of Kimi-chan!
Natural Trans.: Mother took a liking to you!
Iさん「よかった！僕安心したおぉ。
Direct Trans.: Was-good!/Thank-goodness! I relieved [emphasis]. (note sleepy voice and poorly pronounced “yo”)
Natural Trans.: Thank goodness! I’m relieved.
Kさん「勝手に安心すんな！
Direct Trans.: don’t ”arbitrarily” be relieved! (note colloquial pronunciation)
Natural Trans.: Don’t be!
As you see, sentences often have to be entirely reworded, broken up, re-arranged, have words replaced, added, and ommitted, and in short, a helluva lot of interpretation to come up with natural English approximations. Yes; in translation, there is no “equivalent”, only “approximation.”
Languages are simply too vast and, for lack of a better word, “適当,” to be translated by even the most clever programs. Until we can replicate the human mind, with all of it’s reasoning capacity, don’t hold your breath.

By: Aaron Hunt

Aaron Hunt — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:07:44 +0000

The problem lies in placement of adj. as well as many other factors. Like if I told you I want some blue jeans. In french it would attempt to translate it exactly as you typed it in. However in the french as well as spanish languages among others it would be correct to say jean blue instead. It is very obvious when I am in an online chatroom and translate someone else’s dialogue or it is obvious to the other person when I use it.

By: Glen Tomboc

Glen Tomboc — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:37:35 +0000

No, machine translation can’t be accurate as of today because machine translation of human languages or natural languages is still a field of research in Artificial Intelligence and still a lots of research is going on in many first world countries. But Google translator is still better than other translators but for a particular set of languages only like English, French, Spanish, German etc. Its Hindi translation is not up to the mark and the translated piece requires a lot of human effort to make it meaningful though small sentences can be translated well into meaningful sentences.

By: markowe

markowe — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:56:25 +0000

I find it very hard to believe computers will be able to simulate human thinking and reasoning any time soon, perhaps ever. This kind of thinking assumes the human brain is just a kind of very complex computer. But what if it’s nothing of the sort? For a computer to “understand” and to interpret, it needs to be sentient, i.e. a being conscious of it’s own existence and perhaps to have some higher purpose driving it. Even as humans we often don’t really have an answer to the question of WHY we do things, think things, feel things. How do we instill something similar in a computer? We would have to understand ourselves first, and I don’t think we are even close!