Throughout history, the greatest issues with cross-country communication, whether it is just two travellers talking, trade deals or meetings between world leaders, is the language barrier. The fundamental issue is simple; given the difference in societal upbringing, humans develop unique languages, and the lack of a common denominator meant that solutions had to be developed quickly and efficiently. In time, industries rose around this; the translation industry exists because of the need to communicate with others. But as we move deeper and deeper into the information age, can technology step up to replace the human aspect of translation?
Within every sci-fi story, there’s always an explanation for why everyone hears the same language, whether it comes from the heroes or an ‘alien’. The usual excuse is an ‘universal translator’, a magical McGuffin that excuses the necessity for a live translator, and while the value of C-3PO cannot be overstated, both Picard and Kirk got as far as they did because of this forward-thinking solution. While we aren’t at that level in technology compared to fiction, the technology we do have is making radical leaps to close that gap. One such example is the Pilot earpiece. Place the two earpieces in, select a language in the companion app, and the device will auto-translate what it hears into your own language. Another new piece of tech is the Timekettle KT12, a pair of earbuds that offer ‘bi-directional’ language translation. Essentially, it can translate a conversation spoken in two languages, both ways.
While this technology is amazing, and the developments required to even construct the foundations of this are astounding, it is important to note that as of the time of writing this, the tech is not sufficient to replace the human element of translation fully. The machine translation runs into the same problems as using software like Google Translate; the one-to-one translation of words can work in simplified usage, but when dealing with dialects, slang or pronunciations, the machine doesn’t know how to manage that properly.
If we take base English as our example, look at a word like ‘weight’. When written like this, it is clear what I am talking about if you understand English as a written language. However, if I said it out loud as a standalone word, am I talking about the definition of how much mass something has, or am I asking you to pause? Without context, a machine would be unlikely to be able to comprehend in the speed required to respond accordingly. Furthermore, what if my accent makes it difficult to pick out what words I’m saying or if I’m using a slang term? The possibilities of failure are too many to be unacceptable for now.
However, this doesn’t mean that this technology doesn’t have a future or can’t be implemented in other areas. For now, though, the nature and industry of professional translation must retain that human element. The degree of failure is too high when using machine translation purely, and the consequences and ramifications could be disruptive to many. For now, these earpieces are more than capable for the needs of the layperson, but if you need a professional translation, it is better to go to a professional team.
If you would want to speak to one of our professional translators and see how we can help you, get in touch.