Can computer translators ever beat speaking a foreign tongue?
Photo by KOBY Agency @Unsplash
Put crottin de chèvre into Google Translate, and you’ll be told it means goat dung. So, if it appeared on a menu, you might pass. Alas, you would be ruling out a delicious cheese made of goat’s milk that is often served as a starter in France. Such misunderstandings are why Google admits that its free tool, used by about 500 million people, is not intended to replace human translators.
Tourists might accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is cheap and convenient. But when the stakes are higher, perhaps in business, law or medicine, these services often fall short.
Did Video kill the Radio Star? NO. This could be considered the same case. In my opinion `to translate´ is one thing but ‘to interpret’ is another different thing. If we want to know all the subtlety and richness that a foreign language can provide, the presence of human being is essential. Have you tried asking Alexa to tell a joke? feel like dying! Not everyting can be done by a machine.