Introduction of Speech translation
by
Carmen
The most widely anticipated development of the next decade must be that of speech translation. When current research projects were begun in the late 1980s, it was known that practical applications were unlikely before the next century. The limitation of these systems to small domains has clearly been essential for any progress, such are the complexities of the task; but these limitations mean that, when practical demonstrations are made, observers will want to know when broader coverage will be feasible. There is a danger here that the mistakes of the 1950s and 1960s might be repeated; then, it was assumed that once basic principles and methods had been successfully demonstrated on small-scale research systems it would be merely a question of finance and engineering to create large practical systems. The truth was otherwise; large-scale MT systems have to be designed as such from the beginning, it is true that the best written-language MT systems of today are the outcome of decades of research and development.
Whatever the high expectations it is surely unlikely that we will see practical speech translation of significantly large domains for commercial exploitation for another twenty years or more. Far more likely, and in line with general trends within the field of written language MT, is that there will be numerous applications of spoken language
translation
as components of small-domain natural language applications.
In the past there has often been tension between the translation profession and those who advocate and research computer-based translation tools. But now at the end of the twentieth century it is already apparent that MT and human translation can and will co-exist in relative harmony. Those skills which the human translator can contribute will always be in demand.
Where translation has to be of publishable quality, both human translation and MT have their roles. Machine translation is demonstrably cost-effective for large scale and/or rapid translation of technical documentation, software localization manuals, and many other situations where the costs of MT plus essential human preparation and revision or the costs of using computerized translation tools are significantly less than those of traditional human translation with no computer aids. On the contrary, the human translator is unrivalled for non-repetitive linguistically sophisticated texts, and even for one-off texts in specific highly-specialized technical subjects. For the translation of texts where the quality of output is much less important, machine translation is often an ideal solution. However, greater familiarity with crummy translations will inevitably stimulate demand for the kind of good quality translations which only human translators can satisfy.
For the one-to-one interchange of information, there will probably always be a role for the human translator, e.g. for the translation of business correspondence. But for the translation of personal letters, MT systems are likely to be increasingly used; and, for electronic mail and for the extraction of information from Web pages and computer-based information services, MT is the only feasible solution.
As for spoken translation, there must always be a market for the human translator. There can be no prospect of automatic translation replacing the interpreter of diplomatic exchanges. While we can envisage MT of speech in highly constrained domains it seems unlikely that spoken language translation will extend into open-ended dynamic situations of interpersonal communication.
Generally speaking, MT systems are opening up new areas where human translation has never featured: the production of draft versions for authors writing in a foreign
language
, who need assistance in producing an original text; the real-time on-line translation of television subtitles; the translation of information from databases; and, no doubt, more such new applications will appear in the future as the global communication networks expand and as the realistic usability of MT becomes familiar to a wider public.
Aunes Oversettelser AS has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world-wide.
Aunes Oversettelser AS
has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world wide.
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