AI and the old lady of Djerba
The state of AI language translation
Last January 2018 i read the article of Douglas R Hofstadter , in which he states that the quality of translation leaves (much) to be desired and good translation requires an understanding of the world that ai is not (yet) capable off and it is not sure if ai can even reach a level of understanding (and intelligence?) to translate also the subtle elements of human communication;
The Shallowness of Google Translate The program uses state-of-the-art AI techniques, but simple tests show that it's a long way from real understanding. DOUGLAS HOFSTADTER JAN 30, 2018
The Shallowness of Google Translate
I remember at the time i was less pessimistic because i had quite good experiences with automatic translation. I had looked at new developments at deepl.com and given the amount of progress in the last few years i am quite certain a human / native level of language translation by ai must be possible to achieve.
Last month i was involved in a project comparing human and auto translation for technical documentation (in German vs English vs Dutch) in which i found that auto ai translation is already very close to the level of a human translator / native speaker.
But then i encountered the old lady of Djerba ! or to be more specific the french novel "La vieille dame de Djerba" de Joseph Joffo
I saw a mention of this author and book somewhere and out of curiosity i looked up the description:
Lorsque Joseph Joffo rencontra la vieille dame de Djerba, elle lui dit s'appeler Liza. Et il l'écouta... Il l'écouta lui raconter ses multiples vies depuis la nuit des temps, l'histoire du rebbé Avram et celle de lenkélé le marchand d'étoffes, celle du roi qui voulait la mort des oiseaux et celle de Sabine qui aimait un pingouin..., etc. Ces récits, frais et tendres, drôles et boulversants, nous racontent, au fond, l'histoire de l'humanité et sont un hymne à la performence du bien sur le mal, et, comme dans la tradition juive dont ils sont inspirés, un pari sur l'avenir de l'homme. C'est sans doute, le meilleur livre de Joseph Joffo, depuis UN SAC DE BILLES, qui l'a rendu mondialement célèbre.
and because of the limits of my knowledge of French i translated it to Dutch using google translate :
Toen Joseph Joffo de oude dame van Djerba ontmoette, zei ze dat hij Liza moest heten. En hij luisterde naar haar ... Hij luisterde naar haar vertelde haar vele levens sinds het begin der tijden, het verhaal van de rebbe Avram en die van lenkele de lakenhandelaar, die van de koning die de dood van de vogels wilde en die van Sabine die hield van een pinguïn, etc. Deze verhalen, fris en zachtaardig, grappig en ondeugend, vertellen ons, fundamenteel, de geschiedenis van de mensheid en zijn een lofzang op de uitvoering van goed over kwaad, en, zoals in de Joodse traditie waarvan ze geïnspireerd zijn, een gok op de toekomst van de mens. Het is ongetwijfeld het beste boek van Joseph Joffo sinds A BAG OF BALLS, dat hem wereldberoemd maakte.
and in English:
When Joseph Joffo met the old lady of Djerba, she told him to be called Liza. And he listened to her ... He listened to her tell her many lives since the dawn of time, the story of the rebbe Avram and that of lenkele the cloth merchant, that of the king who wanted the death of the birds and that of Sabine who loved a penguin, etc. These stories, fresh and tender, funny and mischievous, tell us, fundamentally, the history of humanity and are a hymn to the performance of good over evil, and, as in the Jewish tradition from which they are inspired, a bet on the future of man. It is undoubtedly, the best book of Joseph Joffo, since A BAG OF BALLS, which made him world famous.
and deepl.com in Dutch
Toen Joseph Joffo de oude dame uit Djerba ontmoette, vertelde ze hem dat haar naam Liza was. En hij luisterde naar haar....... Hij luisterde naar haar om haar te vertellen over haar vele levens sinds het begin der tijden, het verhaal van de rebbe Avram en dat van de lenkele de lakenhandelaar, dat van de koning die de vogels dood wilde en dat van Sabina die van een pinguïn hield..... etc... Deze frisse en tedere, grappige en ontroerende verhalen vertellen ons de geschiedenis van de mensheid en zijn een hymne op de uitvoering van het goede over het kwade en, zoals in de joodse traditie waaruit ze geïnspireerd zijn, een weddenschap op de toekomst van de mens. Het is ongetwijfeld het beste boek van Joseph Joffo, sinds A BAG OF BILLS, dat hem wereldberoemd maakte.
and deepl.com in English:
When Joseph Joffo met the old lady from Djerba, she told him her name was Liza. And he listened to her.... He listened to her tell her about her many lives since the dawn of time, the story of the rebbe Avram and that of lenkele the cloth merchant, that of the king who wanted the birds dead and that of Sabina who loved a penguin... etc.. These fresh and tender, funny and moving stories tell us, at heart, the history of humanity and are a hymn to the performance of good over evil, and, as in the Jewish tradition from which they are inspired, a bet on the future of man. It is undoubtedly, the best book of Joseph Joffo, since A BAG OF BILLS, which made him world famous.
so here we see some strange "mistakes" , in Dutch as well as in English
google:
When Joseph Joffo met the old lady of Djerba, she told him to be called Liza. And he listened to her He listened to her tell her many lives since the dawn of time These stories, fresh and tender, funny and mischievous, tell us, fundamentally, the history of humanity and are a hymn to the performance of good over evil
deepl.com:
When Joseph Joffo met the old lady from Djerba, she told him her name was Liza. And he listened to her He listened to her tell her about her many lives since the dawn of time These fresh and tender, funny and moving stories tell us, at heart, the history of humanity and are a hymn to the performance of good over evil
both seem not to be able to really choose the right words:
Lorsque Joseph Joffo rencontra la vieille dame de Djerba, elle lui dit s'appeler Liza. Et il l'écouta Il l'écouta lui raconter ses multiples vies depuis la nuit des temps. Ces récits, frais et tendres, drôles et boulversants, nous racontent, au fond, l'histoire de l'humanité et sont un hymne à la performence du bien sur le mal
So the state of machine translation is " There is still room for improvement", Better translations require for an AI translator to have a more complete "world model".
My personal feeling is that these improvements will be realized quite soon because of the rapid progress in this field.
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