Machine Translation – between dream and reality

Globe showing the word "translate" in different languages

What is Machine Translation all about?

Machine translation (MT), for a very long time one of the most daring dreams of artificial intelligence, has become a reality for an increasing number of use cases. Nowadays computers can produce translations in no time. While speed and volume of translated data are no longer an issue, opinions still differ about the quality of the translation.

Sign for a restroom in chinese with a fals english translation.


False translations can end-up being very funny – or confusing

The spectrum ranges from strong believes in the usefulness of MT, in particular in scenarios such as getting an understanding of texts in unknown languages and providing raw translation for post- editing, to the absolute negation of any benefits of MT. In addition there are on-going discussions on MT as a growing threat to translators’ jobs.

Read More