Hofstadter

 

This reading was very interesting and it is definitely such a relevant topic. For me personally, the thing that google translate is best for is when I suddenly can't remember a word in either Chinese or English and I do a quick lookup. Or when I am looking for the exact wording of something that I am forgetting. I thought that it is usually pretty accurate for single-word searches. However, throughout the process of my translation project, I realized that it definitely is good as a multi-purpose translation device and is not so good for very accurate/applicable translation of words. Jisho has a better translation most of the time with google translate being just a little bit off. I really don't think that AI could ever replace the work of a translator because language is much too multi-layered and each translator brings to the table different interpretations and understandings. Especially for much longer works AI would not be able to link together themes and motifs that could run throughout which means there needs to be particular focus on certain words etc. 

A little unrelated but this sentence really perfectly describes how I feel when I am translating. "Whenever I translate, I first read the original text carefully and internalize the ideas as clearly as I can, letting them slosh back and forth in my mind." "Slosh" is really the best word for it. 

Machine translation example from my translation project Midorikashi

新しいそうな洋風の二階建てだった。広い庭に芝生が生えていて、稲のより濃い緑色が鮮やかだった。人工芝かもしれない。私のうちの庭は、毎日草をむしっていた祖母がいなくなって草ぼうぼうになってしまった。

Google translate:

It was a new Western-style two-story building. There was a lawn in the large garden, and the darker green color of the rice was bright. It may be artificial turf. My garden has become grassy because my grandmother, who was weeding every day, is gone.

My translation:

It was a two-story western-style building that appeared quite new. It had a spacious garden with grass a vivid dark green that outshone the rice plants. Might be artificial grass. The grass in our garden had become rampant without my grandmother’s careful weeding every day.

Celine