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Google gave their MT a "brain": Google Neural Machine Translation
Thread poster: Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:48
English to French
+ ...
Mar 6, 2017

Hello to all :

It seems that the news that Google implemented a change in machine translation has gone rather unnoticed in the translation community.
The change is in the method: they have plugged in now a Neural Machine Translation. There’s a short word about it on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Neural_Machine_Translation
... See more
Hello to all :

It seems that the news that Google implemented a change in machine translation has gone rather unnoticed in the translation community.
The change is in the method: they have plugged in now a Neural Machine Translation. There’s a short word about it on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Neural_Machine_Translation

Since that, do you feel an improvement in Google MT while you've been using it? How do you feel about this change?

If you’re curious about it and want to learn more and see possible future implications, you’re welcome to check a video I posted here: https://youtu.be/irYnSJX3Yxw It’s not too technical.

I hope you'll all enjoy the "heads up"

Have a good one,

My bests to all
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Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Thanks for the interesting video (about a very relevant topic)! Mar 6, 2017

Fi2 n Co wrote:

Hello to all :

It seems that the news that Google implemented a change in machine translation has gone rather unnoticed in the translation community.
The change is in the method: they have plugged in now a Neural Machine Translation. There’s a short word about it on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Neural_Machine_Translation

Since that, do you feel an improvement in Google MT while you've been using it? How do you feel about this change?

If you’re curious about it and want to learn more and see possible future implications, you’re welcome to check a video I posted here: https://youtu.be/irYnSJX3Yxw It’s not too technical.

I hope you'll all enjoy the "heads up"

Have a good one,

My bests to all


This is definitely a topic I am following closely, as it has the potential to be quite disruptive. My limited personal experience with the new engine, which is in Dutch to English, has been a pretty big jump in quality and fluency. However, I haven't actually confirmed that they plugged the new neural system into Dutch>English. However, since it seems to have much improved over the past few months, I suspect they did already.

I use Google Translate in Déjà Vu X3 (via the paid API key).

So far, the only people in our industry to have covered it in any depth are https://slator.com/ .

I also read a very good (long/in depth) article about it on the New York Times. Highly recommended reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/magazine/the-great-ai-awakening.html?_r=0

And on Kirti Vashee's blog @ http://kv-emptypages.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/an-examination-of-strenghts-and.html

Michael


 
Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:48
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you! Very hot topic indeed! Mar 6, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:

This is definitely a topic I am following closely, as it has the potential to be quite disruptive. My limited personal experience with the new engine, which is in Dutch to English, has been a pretty big jump in quality and fluency. However, I haven't actually confirmed that they plugged the new neural system into Dutch>English. However, since it seems to have much improved over the past few months, I suspect they did already.

I use Google Translate in Déjà Vu X3 (via the paid API key).

So far, the only people in our industry to have covered it in any depth are https://slator.com/ .

I also read a very good (long/in depth) article about it on the New York Times. Highly recommended reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/magazine/the-great-ai-awakening.html?_r=0

And on Kirti Vashee's blog @ http://kv-emptypages.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/an-examination-of-strenghts-and.html

Michael

I agree this really is a hot topic for translators. At present this is just the infancy of NMT. Google are the only ones offering it on the market. So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens when competing ones are released. No doubt many improvements and optimisations will be implemented too.

As to languages, at launch we could read this: “Today we’re putting Neural Machine Translation into action with a total of eight language pairs to and from English and French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish.” Page @: https://blog.google/products/translate/found-translation-more-accurate-fluent-sentences-google-translate/
And as you said, the likelihood is that they’ll add languages as time goes by. This makes sense because the system is flexible (“zero-shot” function).
We’ll have to wait and see how all this evolves.

Thank you for the useful links! These are interesting articles.

I’m glad you liked the video. I hope this helps translators to gain interest in this topic, because it’s coming… and it’s always good to peer into what future may bring.

My bests


 
Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:48
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
From now on KudoZ goes "neural" Mar 6, 2017

How do you feel about this change?

Finally Google has developed AI, the rates will decline and only "post editing" will be asked. Okay, before I resign my freelance activities, let´s go and check it for one year or so with KudoZ first


 
Jared Tabor
Jared Tabor
Local time: 12:48
SITE STAFF
Three part podcast by Globally Speaking on NMT Mar 6, 2017

This may also be of interest, if you have not heard it yet: http://www.proz.com/translation-news/?p=133769

 
John Fossey
John Fossey  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 11:48
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
Maybe it explains something Mar 6, 2017

Fi2 n Co wrote:

Since that, do you feel an improvement in Google MT while you've been using it? How do you feel about this change?



Maybe that explains something I had vaguely noticed - recently GT results have been either quite a bit better than in the past or much worse, sometimes complete gobbledygook.

Overall I hadn't noticed much change.


 
Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:48
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Mar 6, 2017

John Fossey wrote:

Maybe that explains something I had vaguely noticed - recently GT results have been either quite a bit better than in the past or much worse, sometimes complete gobbledygook.

Overall I hadn't noticed much change.


Thanks for this!
Yes, it’ll take a lot of tuning for it to operate smoothly I guess. They are using a complicated connection between NMT and traditional PBMT, so it’ll give some funny lines I think 😉.
But I think it will be really interesting to know many user’s feelings since many languages are involved.
My bests


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
and for a more humorous take (from the Mad Patent Translator) ... Mar 6, 2017

https://patenttranslator.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/interplanetary-travel-and-perfect-machine-translations-two-currently-unattainable-dreams/ (one of my favourite blogs, even though he is a staunch enemy of CAT tools)

MJWB


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Worse than ever Mar 6, 2017


Since that, do you feel an improvement in Google MT while you've been using it?


I used it briefly today. If anything it was even more inaccurate that before. It chooses words I would never choose, and mangles syntax so that phrases which qualify a noun get shifted to the wrong place. A dog's breakfast.


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:48
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
hmm Mar 6, 2017

Tom in London wrote:


Since that, do you feel an improvement in Google MT while you've been using it?


I used it briefly today. If anything it was even more inaccurate that before. It chooses words I would never choose, and mangles syntax so that phrases which qualify a noun get shifted to the wrong place. A dog's breakfast.


I suspect it differs greatly per language pair/direction. Dutch into English has been spitting out some fantastic stuff these past few days. Obviously far from perfect, but very useful nonetheless, both as a dictionary and as a memory jog, serving up pretty darned fluent snippets of human-like English.


 
CafeTran Training (X)
CafeTran Training (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 16:48
Still not getting neurotic about neural Mar 6, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:

So far, the only people in our industry to have covered it in any depth are https://slator.com/


Still not getting neurotic about neural, published on March 3, 2017, by Terence Lewis on LinkedIn


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:48
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Artificial Intelligence Mar 6, 2017

Source: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=26338











[Edited at 2017-03-06 18:07 GMT]


 
Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 15:48
English to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
:) Mar 6, 2017

LegalTransform wrote:

Source: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=26338


Hilarious!


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 12:48
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Not much better, if not actually worse, in EN > PT Mar 6, 2017

A while ago I built this page for prospects who tried to force me into accepting their extremely low rates on any excuse, limited budget, etc.

I gave them the chance to compare my translation with Google's free, online, immediate delivery.

The source texts were from an actual test a translation agency
... See more
A while ago I built this page for prospects who tried to force me into accepting their extremely low rates on any excuse, limited budget, etc.

I gave them the chance to compare my translation with Google's free, online, immediate delivery.

The source texts were from an actual test a translation agency had sent me.

My translation is on that page, however that's not the issue here.
You, PT-BR reader will be the judge: Has GT improved or did it become worse?

Part I

SOURCE TEXT
Breathe in the scent of desert sage in this spunky Southwest city filled with sunshine, Native American history, and plenty of New Mexico activities. Stay at your choice of Albuquerque hotels and enjoy everything from hot air ballooning and golfing to gallery hopping and shopping for regional treasures.

Google translation THEN
Respire o perfume de sálvia deserto nesta cidade do sudoeste spunky cheia de sol, os nativos americanos da história, e muitas das atividades do Novo México. Fique na sua escolha de hotéis Albuquerque e desfrutar de tudo de balão de ar quente e golfe galeria de salto e as compras de tesouros regional.

Google translation NOW
Respire o perfume do sábio do deserto nesta cidade spunky do sudoeste enchida com a luz do sol, na história do nativo americano, e na abundância de atividades de New mexico. Fique em sua escolha de Albuquerque hotéis e desfrutar de tudo, desde balão de ar quente e golfe para galerias hopping e compras de tesouros regionais.


Part II
SOURCE TEXT
With just a little reasearch you can add some volunteer work into almost any trip, with any budget. You can make it the primary reason for traveling, immersing yourself in another culture, spending two weeks or more focusing on intensive volunteer work, or you can spend as little as half a day working on a community project. Either way, it's still good.

Google translation THEN
Com apenas um pouco reasearch você pode adicionar algum trabalho voluntário em quase qualquer viagem, com todo o orçamento. Você pode fazê-lo o principal motivo para viajar, imergindo-se em outra cultura, de passar duas semanas ou mais centrado no trabalho voluntário intensiva, ou você pode gastar tão pouco quanto metade do dia trabalhando em um projeto da comunidade. De qualquer forma, ainda é bom.

Google translation NOW
Com apenas um pouco de pesquisa você pode adicionar algum trabalho voluntário em quase qualquer viagem, com qualquer orçamento. Você pode torná-lo a principal razão para viajar, mergulhando-se em outra cultura, gastando duas semanas ou mais com foco em trabalho voluntário intensivo, ou você pode gastar tão pouco como meio dia trabalhando em um projeto comunitário. De qualquer maneira, ainda é bom.


Part III
SOURCE TEXT
The Cherry Blossom Parade and Festival celebrates the gift of 3000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington DC in 1912. The spectacular parade takes an entire morning to move along Constitution Avenue. Marching bands from across the nation and around the world fill this grand avenue from 7-17th Streets, with colour and music. Spectacular floats, costumed dance troupes, giant helium ballons, celebrity guests and the stunning Cherry Blossom queen herself all appear in the parade, which gathers donations for charities which give opportunities to disadvantaged young people.

Google translation THEN
The Cherry Blossom Festival Parade e celebra o dom de 3.000 cerejeiras da cidade de Tóquio para o povo de Washington DC em 1912. O desfile espetacular toma uma manhã inteira para se mover ao longo Constitution Avenue. Bandas de todo o país e no mundo preencher esta grande avenida de Ruas 7-17, com cor e música. Espetacular carros alegóricos, grupos de dança fantasiado, balões de hélio gigantes, convidados da celebridade e do Cherry Blossom deslumbrante rainha se todos aparecem na parada, que reúne doações para instituições de caridade que dão oportunidades para jovens desfavorecidos.

Google translation NOW
A parada e o festival da flor de cerejeira comemoram o presente de 3000 cerejeiras da cidade de Tokyo ao povo de Washington DC em 1912. O desfile espectacular toma uma manhã inteira mover-se ao longo da avenida da constituição. Marching bandas de todo o país e em todo o mundo enchem esta grande avenida de 7-17th Streets, com cor e música. Flutuadores espetaculares, troupes de dança fantasiados, gigantescos balões de hélio, convidados de celebridades e a deslumbrante rainha de Cherry Blossom, todos eles aparecem no desfile, que reúne doações para instituições de caridade que dão oportunidades a jovens desfavorecidos.


Part IV
SOURCE TEXT
In another few minutes my little band of tourists will rejoin the hordes of other sightseers visiting the National Museum of American History, boarding a tour bus, standing in line at the Capitol. And by day's end, back at the hotel, they will be regretting that they didn't wear sunscreen, or resolving to rise earlier tomorrow to secure a ticket to tour the Newseum.

Google translation THEN
Em mais alguns minutos o meu pequeno grupo de turistas vai reunir as hordas de turistas visitando outras do Museu Nacional de História Americana, embarcar em um ônibus, em pé na fila do Capitólio. E ao fim do dia, de volta ao hotel, eles serão lamentando que não usar protetor solar, ou resolver a subir mais cedo amanhã para garantir um ingresso para a turnê Newseum.

Google translation NOW
Em mais alguns minutos, a minha pequena banda de turistas irá reunir-se com as hordas de outros turistas que visitam o Museu Nacional de História Americana, a bordo de um autocarro de turismo, em pé na fila do Capitólio. E no final do dia, de volta ao hotel, eles vão lamentar que eles não usam protetor solar, ou resolver resolver amanhã mais cedo para garantir um bilhete para visitar o Newseum.



IMHO - based on this sample above - GT now is worse now than it was a few years ago.
If you can read PT-BR, what do you think?


[Edited at 2017-03-06 19:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse


 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:48
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Artificial intelligence Mar 6, 2017

What will happen when A.I. becomes self aware and starts demanding .30 a word?

 
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Google gave their MT a "brain": Google Neural Machine Translation






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