Brillantes, Jane Marianne G.

EL 170
May 14, 2013

On the Future of Translation: Machine or Humans?

At a time when modern technology is present in our everyday lives, man is more than
ever threatened by the presence of technology in fear of being replaced by machines. Machines
have lessened the need to employ workers in factories what one worker can do, a machine can
produce more and at a faster speed, with the guidance of just one worker. In the field of
agriculture, what was once done by mans hands, and then by a carabao with a plow, is now done
faster by a tractor. Now, with revolutionary technology, technology has entered the academe. We
now use computers and printers instead of using a typewriter or handwriting a paper. In the field
of translation, some professionals fear that they may lose their job because of the rise of machine
translation.
There is now an overwhelming presence of online translating applications like Google
Translate, Babelfish and bing. Students can easily connect to the internet, go to these websites,
enter the text to be translated, select the desired target language and with just a click and a few
seconds, the text is easily translated.
The article Ang Computer sa Pagsasalin: Pagsasaling Gamit ang Google Translate by
Theresa Hansel A. Makahiya analyzed the effectiveness of Google Translate based on a simple
English article. The application translated almost all English words of the article into Filipino in
just a few seconds. However, there are some grammatical and accuracy issues. The machine
evidently had some confusion on how to translate, as reflected in its failure to translate a word in
the end of the text that was translated successfully in the beginning; or translating a word into a
Filipino term and then translating the same word into a different Filipino term.
Looking at the advantages of the application, one can say that it is very useful in fast
translations into many languages available. It is a project under construction so it is upgradeable.
The presence of machine and absence of man lessen human interference, manipulation and
distortion. Once this technology is perfected or somehow near perfection, people may not see the
necessity to learn a language; one can just be equipped with a device powered by Google
Translate. In the article Online translation on the rise, changing lives by Martha Mendoza, it is
obvious how people used Google Translate to help other people, in the case of Haiti; to
communicate your thoughts to people in the world; and to change lives, as in the case of the
American family who adopted a deaf Chinese teenager and only used Google Translate to
communicate with each other.
However, the drawbacks of machine translation are very striking. How can a machine be
made to take into account idioms, humor, tone of voice and cultural references? How can it
translate the source culture into the target culture? Can it employ domestication and
foreignization? Moreover, as the article has mentioned, the application uses vocabulary from UN
articles, which are full of legal terms instead of everyday language used by man. Because it uses
written language, there exists a possibility that the vocabulary used is not used in conversations.
As we have discussed in my Linguistics class, language is arbitrary and open-ended. It
evolves everyday as culture, history and society evolves. Language is creative. I am very much
in doubt that machine translation can keep up with these evolutions and that it can employ the
same level of creativity and novelty that a man can use.
Meanwhile, the article Pagsasalin ng Home Page ng Facebook sa Filipino by Camilo
Nogoy tackles community translation of the Facebook home page wherein a community of
translators is formed from interested users who translate, criticize, analyze translations, and in
the end has the power to vote on translation decisions. Examining the output, confusion in what
techniques to use is very apparent. There are cases where two techniques are employed in one
phrase. For me, because of the use of transference, wherein the same English words are used for
the Filipino translation, it is doubtful to say that this is a good, or as we say, madulas
translation. Its as if we adapted English words into our vocabulary and our sound system as
well. As the article has mentioned, the translation done was in no way academic or formal, but
seeing that it is a product of collective effort, it must be given credit.
However, because there was no way to see if a user who acted as translator is equipped to
do so. Knowledge of the language doesnt mean that one has the necessary skills to translate. I
am not limiting translation works to professionals, however, theories and the practice of them is
important in order to produce a good translation. Everyone can learn the language, but not
everyone can translate, but anyone can learn the skills.
The article also mentioned that whats important in translation is the goal of
comprehension - as long as the message is delivered without any confusion, the translation is
successful. But, what, if I may ask, was the goal of translating the Facebook home page into
different languages? From the article, it is said that Facebook encouraged people from different
countries to adopt the website into their own culture and language. In this line, was the original
goal obtained? Furthermore, with this kind of approach in translation, majority of the terms were
not really translated into Filipino, and English terms were retained. If the goal is to make
Facebook more accessible to the non-English speaking Filipinos, it failed miserably.
As a conclusion, I am still in doubt that machines can replace man in the field of
translation. Because language is a form of communication between people and translation is used
to make easy this communication, man and not machines can complement this kind of
interaction. Nevertheless, machine translation can always aid man. The machine can do the
preliminary translation and then a human translator will edit, or the man can do more productive
tasks like analyzing the context, thus speeding up the process. Machine translation might reach a
certain level of grammatical perfection in the years to come but they will never be able to replace
man. Machines, in the first place, were created to aid man, not to replace them.



References:
Makahiya, Theresa Hansel A. Ang Computer sa Pagsasalin: Pagsasaling Gamit ang Google
Translate.
Mendoza, Martha. Online Translation on the rise, changling lives. Yahoo! News. May 1, 2013.
http://news.yahoo.com/online-translation-rise-changing lives
Nogoy, Camilo. Pagsasalin ng Home Page ng Facebook sa Filipino