Lifestyle
Life with “ Smart Translators ”
Lifestyle
Rebuilding the Babel Tower
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Life with “ Smart Translators ”
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By James Kwak
hen the Lord saw His people constructing the Tower of Babel , daring to challenge God ’ s authority , He confused the people with different languages . Sadly , many students have had to study various languages since then . Subjects such as the SAT , English class , and Indonesian class are burdening the students of Mountainview with complicated languages . Luckily for these pitiful students , scientists have developed an “ ultimate translator .” This translator can instantly and flawlessly translate any sentences among different languages , freeing the burdens of language learning . With this translator , different languages of the world can be unified , just like the people who were constructing the Tower of Babel .
So , what is this “ ultimate translator ” and how does it function ? The translator is named Neural Machine Translation ( NMT ). Open the Google Translate in your web browser and try translating anything . There , you just saw neural machine translation happening . In fact , Google is one of the leading pioneers of NMT technology . Unlike its scary name , its fundamental mechanism isn ’ t as complicated . Scientists programmed an artificial network of neurons , similar to how our brains are shaped . The neurons act just like real neurons . When new data are given , the neurons fire and send out electric signals . The signals travel through the neurons , causing them to be activated . However , as the signals pass through the neurons , the signals slowly diminish to the point where the signals may not activate the neurons . This activate-diminish cycle is repeated numerous times with already translated data to “ train ” the network . As a result , when new information is given , they are translated through the established system . Sounds confusing and unrealistic ? Science is developing as rapidly as ever . Some scientists are even predicting the removal of language barriers in five years . After all , a unified , integrated world might come in near future .
However , we all know that Google Translate rarely produces decent translations . There are two primary reasons why it is not doing a good job . First , NMT is heavily based on accumulated data . If there are not enough existing translations or if they does not have consistent quality , the neural network of Google Translate will not be trained properly . Second , NMT is a developing technology which is recently adapted to the Google Translator . NMT for Korean-English translation was first started last year , 2016 . Scientists are still finding ways to adapt and improve NMT . Sadly , days are still far for the perfect translation of Google Translator .
Try imagining how the world would look when the translator enters into our daily life . Korean students may be searching German internet websites for their homework . Seniors could easily apply to foreign colleges without having to learn new languages . Non-native English-speaking students would comfortably communicate with their English-speaking friends . Language barriers that prevented people from communicating with each other would be eliminated through the help of the translator . However , there may also be unpleasing consequences . Racial hatred might spread uncontrollably through the internet with less obstacles to halt them . Competition would be intensified since everyone from different languages would be equally capable of communication . Previously , international students only had to compete with English speakers when they applied to American colleges . Now , students of all languages are capable of competing for college acceptance using the translator . In these ways , this technological development would not only bring delightful benefits but also dreadful social consequences .