The future of translation – how new technologies in translation are changing the world.

After the creation of machine translator engines, the idea of being able to translate from one language to another instantly seemed unreal. I was mesmerized by all the languages options that google translate offered, plus the ability of reproducing the sounds in any of them.  It started in 2006 and it counts with more than 100 languages currently. 

It’s often said that engine translation will affect the future of translators and interpreters and end with these professions. As a translation and interpreting student, I can´t argue this isn’t true.  One of the latest innovations in the translation machines world is called Ambassador by Waverly Labs. This machine translates simultaneously from 20 different languages.

However, even though machine translators have improved enormously since its origin,  it still presents numerous mistakes and loses in translation. Google Translate is the largest and most used translation machine, yet wrong translations have become so common and widespread that they’ve been sharing them in some platforms in a comical way. Here’s some examples.

Found a Spanish written document on "Fall Protection" but it says "otoño protección" 😂💀 #GoogleTranslateFail

— Erika Santos (@Erika_JSantos) June 6, 2017

These sentences have totally different meanings. German output means "however we hope to help with your travel plans". #GoogleTranslateFail pic.twitter.com/qNgRISKlHq

— Stephen Forrest (@saphorr) December 7, 2016

Therefore, it seems like machine translators still have to improve their skills to replace human translators. Languages are constantly evolving and in order to translate from one language to another it would be necessary to be aware of all the social and cultural circumstances. We need to understand the context when it comes to learning languages and converting them.

In spite of this, machine translators would offer a range of advantages and opportunities if their translations are more accurate in the future. People would find traveling easier and the language wouldn’t suppose a barrier when it comes to socialising.

However, I think of of the biggest impacts this type of technologies have in society is the decreasing motivation for learning languages. Bilingual brains have been shown to provide numerous health benefit, including less probabilities to suffer from Alzheimer, improvement of memory and better cognitive development. Sadly, less and less people every time show interest in learning languages because machine translators do the work for them.