| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Google's AI translation system is approaching human-level accuracy
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| | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 04:52
Spanish to English
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... the other one
| | | | | Thank you, Google | Oct 2, 2016 |
I'll personally take this assertion as a delicate way of saying that professional translators are superhumans.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ha ha
Why is so much effort being put in to developing computer systems and robots that, finally, it is hoped, will be able to do **what we already know how to do perfectly well** ???
[Edited at 2016-10-02 20:54 GMT]
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Tom in London wrote:
Ha ha
Why is so much effort being put in to developing computer systems and robots that, finally, it is hoped, will be able to do **what we already know how to do perfectly well** ???
[Edited at 2016-10-02 20:54 GMT]
For the same reason that they automate everything in manufacturing: it's cheaper.
The big difference they keep forgetting is that while automation in manufacturing does reduce the risk of human error, it's quite the opposite in the case of machine translation: the risk of error increases specifically because the work would be done by machines.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| It's worse than that | Oct 3, 2016 |
Annamaria Amik wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
Ha ha
Why is so much effort being put in to developing computer systems and robots that, finally, it is hoped, will be able to do **what we already know how to do perfectly well** ???
[Edited at 2016-10-02 20:54 GMT]
For the same reason that they automate everything in manufacturing: it's cheaper.
The big difference they keep forgetting is that while automation in manufacturing does reduce the risk of human error, it's quite the opposite in the case of machine translation: the risk of error increases specifically because the work would be done by machines.
It's worse than that: mankind is now devoting immense effort to spend the next 100 years sending humans to Mars and beyond in the hope of finding a habitable planet, when we already have one right here (if we would only look after it).
| | | | | Race against the Machine | Oct 3, 2016 |
Hi collegues,
We can't reverse this trend: every task that can be automated, it will be.
"The AI revolution is doing to whit collar jobs what robotics did tu blue collor jobs", this is a quote from "Race Against the Machine" by Erik Bryonjolsson and Andrew McAfee
http://raceagainstthemachine.com/
Translators have to re-invent themselves and become Global Lingu... See more Hi collegues,
We can't reverse this trend: every task that can be automated, it will be.
"The AI revolution is doing to whit collar jobs what robotics did tu blue collor jobs", this is a quote from "Race Against the Machine" by Erik Bryonjolsson and Andrew McAfee
http://raceagainstthemachine.com/
Translators have to re-invent themselves and become Global Linguist Consultants tout court
My 2 cents
Kind regards from Italy ▲ Collapse
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New Luddites of the world unite!
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:52
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| What a statement. | Oct 3, 2016 |
this is like one of those people who state they can speak 20 languages fluently by uploading one rehearsed sentence in 20 different languages on youtube. And they rehearsed this sentence for months, sometimes with a tutor, while not being able to speak much of the language behind that one sentence, or a little paragraph. But it looks impressive to youtube audience, that's what is important.
You are hopefully aware that the way a person thinks, feels and perceives the world, i... See more this is like one of those people who state they can speak 20 languages fluently by uploading one rehearsed sentence in 20 different languages on youtube. And they rehearsed this sentence for months, sometimes with a tutor, while not being able to speak much of the language behind that one sentence, or a little paragraph. But it looks impressive to youtube audience, that's what is important.
You are hopefully aware that the way a person thinks, feels and perceives the world, is unique to each human being? And then they produce a unique language out of these unique features? How are you going to automate that? ▲ Collapse
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Automate legal texts and someone will have to pay thousands of dollars in damages, or will have to deal with a very angry judge.
Automate poetry and you will kill it.
Automate journal articles and you can shut down the whole thing.
Automate medical texts and you will effectively kill someone.
What on earth are we going to automate, then? Weather reports? Fine by me, but that’s already automated.
Translating a text and manufactur... See more Automate legal texts and someone will have to pay thousands of dollars in damages, or will have to deal with a very angry judge.
Automate poetry and you will kill it.
Automate journal articles and you can shut down the whole thing.
Automate medical texts and you will effectively kill someone.
What on earth are we going to automate, then? Weather reports? Fine by me, but that’s already automated.
Translating a text and manufacturing a door trim are two different undertakings, if we can accept that.
Oh, let's automate medical doctors too. Why should we pay them? Machines will do a better and cheaper job. Automate your psychologist too. Perhaps it's even cheaper to be a robot...
[Edited at 2016-10-03 18:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:52
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Er, it was in a book so we should believe it? | Oct 3, 2016 |
Silvina Dell'Isola Urdiales wrote:
"The AI revolution is doing to whit collar jobs what robotics did tu blue collor jobs", this is a quote from "Race Against the Machine" by Erik Bryonjolsson and Andrew McAfee
Ray Kurzweil has been a cheerleader for AI - and making similar claims - for decades. While he's regarded by many as a visionary, his track record in predictions is, at best, rather mixed.
The two people you quote sound as if they have hold similar views to those of Kurzweil. But remember, they are just two individuals with strong and (possibly) well-articulated opinions. That does not mean they are or will be correct. They might well be totally wrong, just many proponents of AI in the 1980s were wrong.
We can't reverse this trend: every task that can be automated, it will be.
And every task that can't, won't.
Dan
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:52
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| A few more words about "automation" in this context... | Oct 3, 2016 |
when a native speaker reads a nicely crafted and clear text in their native language, they automatically perceive the mental images rendered by this text. See, it's automatic in their mind? On the other hand, when they read an automatized MT output, this rendering is not automatic for them. It will require effort, research, connecting missing dots and pieces, etc, in order for these messages to be rendered clearly. My point is, it can be "automatic" on only one end, obviously ... See more when a native speaker reads a nicely crafted and clear text in their native language, they automatically perceive the mental images rendered by this text. See, it's automatic in their mind? On the other hand, when they read an automatized MT output, this rendering is not automatic for them. It will require effort, research, connecting missing dots and pieces, etc, in order for these messages to be rendered clearly. My point is, it can be "automatic" on only one end, obviously And it will require time and human effort either way. In the former case for crafting the text, in the latter case for understanding and clarifying the text. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It may get to the level of human bilinguals, but they are not all professionals | Oct 4, 2016 |
I know a lot of Scandinavians who speak excellent English, fluently and idiomatically, as long as they are thinking in English and not trying to translate from Danish/Swedish/Norwegian. Many others - Dutch and Germans - can do it too.
But they come unstuck when they try to translate. They get far too literal, and the result is Scandinavian syntax with English words, and can in fact be quite hard work to understand, because they get the collocations wrong, or they are trapped by fals... See more I know a lot of Scandinavians who speak excellent English, fluently and idiomatically, as long as they are thinking in English and not trying to translate from Danish/Swedish/Norwegian. Many others - Dutch and Germans - can do it too.
But they come unstuck when they try to translate. They get far too literal, and the result is Scandinavian syntax with English words, and can in fact be quite hard work to understand, because they get the collocations wrong, or they are trapped by false friends... dozens of little things.
English native bilinguals make another range of typical mistakes. If AI is not as good as these humans, it is not good enough for many purposes, even if it is adequate for some.
Qualified translators are aware of the traps, and carefully collect ways of avoiding them, but there are always more. Danish is my language of habitual usage, and I speak it as well as most natives... but never translate into Danish, except for very short, simple remarks and passages. It sounds fine to me at first, but if I read it again a couple of months later, I sometimes cringe!
As others have said, Google may get most of the gist, but it will never really be able to translate like an experienced human. It is impossible to categorise and code all the subtleties and anomalies. However many you note down, there will always be new traps and new contexts...
[Edited at 2016-10-04 23:31 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Edwin den Boer
Netherlands
Local time: 04:52
Member (2009)
English to Dutch
| Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:52
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
The next challenge is to commercialize NMT at a good economic price so it’s affordable—Tony O’Dowd
I need to see what I am actually buying. What a long article/text and not a single output sample sentence. I have never seen a serious linguistic research and claims before without providing sample sentences, words or phrases to support the claims.
| | | | D Hu
Canada
Local time: 22:52
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Like try it ,sometime. | Oct 5, 2016 |
Hope to see more detail.
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