How computers translate human language - Ioannis Papachimonas

View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/how-compute...
Is a universal translator possible in real life? We already have many programs that claim to be able to take a word, sentence, or entire book in one language and translate it into almost any other. The reality, however, is a bit more complicated. Ioannis Papachimonas shows how these machine translators work, and explains why they often get a bit mixed up.
Lesson by Ioannis Papachimonas, animation by NOWAY Video Club.

[@practicalpen1990]

As a Translator and Linguist, this video made me happy. Yes, the technology is pretty advanced nowadays, but you can't just copy+paste. You still need Translators to do their job because we know Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, Pragmatics, we work with the context and with all other finer details of language and culture.

[@kimlambertus6248]

Fish

[@TheWordWind]

_uses translator repeatedly back and forth between languages_ "Eats children and muffins." I knew it! The internet eats people!

[@nfetters]

Wanna know the difference between children and broccoli?

[@Gwydda]

+nfetters Broccoli are less noisy.

[@josiahball2771]

You don't have enough evidence to prove that the internet eats people.

[@rogerdarnold3755]

"The muffin eats the children." I'm dying

[@pippinhart7340]

You: "no one wants to watch a starship crew spend years compiling an alien dictionary" Ted Chiang: We'll see about that.

[@ningunoZyZ]

2 references to Doctor Who in the thumb, even before the video start. Good job.

[@juhotuho10]

+Timefire ! wow

[@eficzek007]

+Timefire ! Doctor Who still is for little girls compared to Star Trek which actually has a deeper meaning than "pew pew" or those damn sunglasses.

[@juhotuho10]

khjk kjhjkh don't you say anything bad about my sunglasses or ill wreck you in your sleep

[@KittyLover2772]

+khjk kjhjkh I am a big fan of both Doctor Who and Star Trek. I have watched everything they have to to offer and consider myself to be a rather clever person. I would think your opinion to be incorrect as perhaps you may have not looked deeper then what appears on the surface. Both shows can get very philosophical. And trust me, I am dissatisfied with the sunglasses too.

[@thedarkshadowsamurai6207]

+pzreich Well put

[@karengomez3143]

Even as a human it’s hard to tell the meaning of some phrases, sometimes the message it’s between the lines or you need to know an old reference or something to understand a phrase, besides the context! I’m excited to jump into the hitchhikers. Thank u 🙏

[@donnellcoleman2423]

so true I translated from one language to another then translated the results back to the original language using Google translate ,never getting the original phrase idea back

[@Shilag]

+Donnell Coleman You'll have fun with Translation Party. Try it out.

[@donnellcoleman2423]

@ 8 dollars I'll take your word on that 😋

[@SauceChef]

+Shilag I just ate, grandpa *translate I just ate a grandpa *translate I had a grandpa Well that was dark.

[@annak9096]

The vocal fry is strong with this one.

[@2b-coeur]

Yeah, his voice is pretty much just vocal fry XD he's my favorite TED-Ed narrator though.

[@ppenguin_9713]

I find your lack of translations disturbing.

[@devonoknabo2582]

never say vocal fry ever

[@TickedOffPriest]

"We might have to start compiling that dictionary after all." Make it so.

[@misstary13]

This video explains perfectly why most programs today should be used for simple sentences at a time. Or at the very least, why using them alone when conversing or learning a new language isn’t recommend.

[@AMIR55312]

Transistors lack the sense of humor and irony.... to be able to translate accurately.

[@Krone37Io]

+LeGunslinger some humor stick with the language itself, like pun humor.

[@zeppie_]

+LeGunslinger But without any context, its hard to 'detect' that

[@red13emerald]

+Zeppelans lol that was a funny one :D

[@javiere.gonzalez1021]

+LeGunslinger They really don't. What's lacking are the algorithms, which given enough time..

[@AMIR55312]

lovingboarding Having watched something from someone like CGP does not mean agreeing 100% with it :)

[@FeliciaFollum]

as a language learner, this is such an interesting discussion...I think what the brain can do on it's own with understanding a foreign language is pretty spectacular too

[@lilbrandi1216]

Now it seems to me that i can listen to this voice for hours cuz it's just soooo pleasing.

[@BeastOfTraal]

I like how you used the same animation style as the original H2G2 TV series during the section when you talked about the babel fish

[@ChrisWyzzar]

+BeastOfTraal They even inserted an actual sentence on it, did you see it?

[@arturomillan]

Did sound change when we entered the human diagram's brain? Brilliant! I loved it.

[@stevewood8914]

The Latin phrase used points to another problem. What if the target language has no word for what you're translating from? You have to use the best approximation you can think of and hope there's no confusion. In this case placenta was chosen despite its meaning being closer to flat-bread. (Also if you'd wanted it to be plural, it should have been placentas, not placentam.)

[@katrinkastewart8969]

0:10 LOVE the Doctor Who reference.

[@alizehkhan6274]

I'm watching this because of the Dalek 😅

[@thewaterleaf7929]

Am I the single person who laughed so badly that it dropped its phone when the girl started "devorano" the muffin?

[@SO-iu3pg]

🤣 lol why isn't anyone talking about this

[@Pistep]

Great video and animation!

[@ronk7585]

I liked how in the enterprise series the computer translator wasn't often up to the last and Hoshi had to do the work.

[@goostickygames]

this is the exact video i was looking for

[@TheFGrox]

2:45 The correct pronounce is "divòrano".

[@mhmn9436]

In doctor who, the tardis translates all language.

[@runyoucleverboyandremember9301]

The only reason I clicked this was because i saw a DALEK

[@nk77078]

Doraemon actually have this type of translator floating anywhere in its pocket and it's edible too

[@user-ef8gu4cz1g]

I was amazed by the new invention that structured the language through the computer. 10926

[@rouninpanda6318]

Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra. Temba, his arms wide.

[@MuadDib1402]

+RouninPanda Temba, at rest.

[@gatoman101]

+RouninPanda Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.

[@burressjj1]

+RouninPanda Shaka. When the walls fell.

[@krowsegonnun6349]

+RouninPanda Zinda, his face black, his eyes red!! Easily my favorite episode of the series.

[@MichaelSHartman]

Good point about cultural meanings.

[@LTB8040]

So the main reason why programs have a hard time translating things is because sometimes a sentence can have multiple translations in another language. Humans are at an advantage because they know exactly which translation is the most accurate for what they want to say. It's not that programs aren't complex enough, but that they lack context.

[@RyomaEchizenAnime]

To reference the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy... Best Novel Series, ever.

[@quynguyen830]

The name is great Ioannis Papachimonas!

[@arandomhandsomeman7725]

my college uses statistical analysis translation. when were giving work to do online, the computer has system that knows if we copy anf paste from a website.

[@3dScience8]

Nice video Ioannis Papachimonas! Greetings from Hellas ;)

[@cthulhuumaru9797]

I have enough Problems, yet you add this to mine

[@DrCl4ym0re]

0:53 German : "Wo ist DIE Science-Fiction Convention?" Convention translates into german like this: "Treffen", which is a neutral word resulting the the articel "die". (but for a non-native german is "der" not that wrong, you translated convention probably into "zusammen-schluss/kommen" which is a masculinum and posesses the articel "der".) Greetings from Germany and thanks for the great video!

[@sciencelover2342]

I caught the Foundation reference at 3:01.

[@MarkFlavin1]

I wonder if the index includes subtitles from popular movies and tv shows. Consider the sheer volume of entertainment that is subtitled every year by professional human translators and how relevant the content is to translation quirks.

[@sion8]

Would copyrights keep that kind of stuff of the table for some?

[@gamingdude2811]

I thought I was gonna learn how voice control works. :P

[@SirRJay]

You: Muffins Me: Cup brownies

[@nastysdsi]

02:45 Please use a voice synthesizer before trying to pronounce words you don't know... (to check their pronunciation)

[@KnakuanaRka]

More details on what makes translation difficult: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXLKoWqkjcmegrc

[@Reciomane]

as an italian hearing the verbs pronounced wrong in a translation video is kind of strange. mangiano is almost corret though. divoràno, not divòrano

[@Arma551]

When I heard this pronunce I get cancer

[@Hastdupech8509]

Cosa stai dicendo, l'accento corretto è divòrano. Divoràno è l'accento sbagliato, senti che la a è la lettera più stressata. Correggi il tuo commento, diciamo no alla disinformazione.

[@gredangeo]

Why would you expect someone who is speaking English to suddenly switch to an accent to get a particular pronunciation right? He said the word correctly as far as I can tell.

[@katask7849]

@@gredangeo but divoràno must mean "they will eat" not "they it",i study italian so I'm not sure.

[@gredangeo]

@@katask7849 So Italian is a Tonal language? Where pronunciation matters?

[@michaeldu3608]

I'm Chinese (I moved from Shanghai to Brussels) and here's a snippet of the translation at 3:02 "He name is … " *:D*

[@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477]

Let me guess, can not that name be transliterated?

[@sailorspacey]

But Waverly Labs has come up with one. Just look up youtubes "Waverly Labs creates first in-ear language translator"

[@sprblk]

what about cryptography (I think thats the right word)? As in treating the unknown words/language like a code that has to be broken. I imagine that is how a translator for unknown languages, like alien ones, or new ones, would have to work.

[@tasya3771]

I'm so happy they put a doctor who reference in this video. :DD

[@FuckYouPBL]

3:01 Appreciated for using Traditional Chinese instead of the ugly simplified one. Thank you!!

[@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477]

Let me guess, are you Taiwanese?

[@spintop285]

In, the part were you translate English to Greek saying "Where is the Science Fiction Convention?" I saw phi, witch was the circle with a line going on top of the O to the bottom. In case if you don't know what Phi is, then I shall tell you, and just to do it quickly you just need to look at your fingers or look at the great pyramid of Giza, and you will understand the whole gist of it.

[@johnathangabay2690]

03:08 1 huge Fundation reference

[@prestonearley9200]

3:00 Text scroll from Foundation series by Isaac Asimov

[@andreaannunziata8268]

+Voltion99 And I!

[@kittyyuki1537]

+Preston Earley I replayed that part to make sure what I saw is what it is, and it is :D

[@babotond]

nice catch

[@laurieturner5478]

Preston Earley r2d2:loooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!

[@zilbest]

Interesting... Though IMHO, the problem with translation machine is, in language, context is everything: different languages, cultures, situations, moral values, locations, and so on. Context is like a countable infinity with no formula which is impossible to build the database.

[@DownFlex]

i need to study that. i just need it in my life :D

[@Ju0Ju0Bug]

those'd be some funky-ass muffins

[@myowncomputerstuff]

2:43 mon-JON-oh!

[@muhammadisaac07]

Thanks 😊 Love from Bangladesh 🇧🇩🇧🇩🇧🇩

[@ShawnRavenfire]

Universal translator from the episode "Metamorphosis." (Yes, I caught that.)

[@RoScFan]

Can the 2 approaches be mixed to produce better translations?

[@Alexaflohr]

What about teaching an AI to recognize language, interpret it, and translate it? I imagine that it would only need to be a bit more complex than the common chatbot for linguistic interpretation, combined with some basic concepts like recognization of the self and the environment in order to make a smart translator.

[@sharkofjoy]

this process of taking large amounts of sample input and pattern building to predict and interact with the future is where AI is currently. So basically, it's already "AI".

[@practicalpen1990]

There's already a company that does pretty much that. But they employ Linguists and Translators to correct the original transcript, the translation, and the final dubbing. You can't do without humans who have linguistic and cultural knowledge.

[@rohandahiya7822]

Tbh, it'd be better if everyone learned a single language, English or maybe even something like Esperanto, your native language, and few other languages which are relevant to you.

[@frigdal]

And of course an asimov reference :D I wonder how many saw that one ^^

[@user-nh4sr7ch9t]

are you guys saying that the fact that i'm majoring in translation and interpretation in english-turkish-french is a bad idea? i know that myriad of languages do exist, yet i don't presume that the likelihood of a translation of a contraption being of high-quality is rather low, contrary to that of human's who can comprehend and convey semantical meanings, hoary adages, daily sayings exc. not only do we have to have a profound level of language, but we must keep track of daily enhancements, small changes that occur on a daily basis.

[@binifarmer4045]

Did anyone else catch the Foundation reference at 3:00-3:09?

[@nothingtoseehere8810]

3:02 The Chinese acutalluy said the boy never seen camel before rather than translator in the original statement

[@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477]

actually*

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Interesting

[@uperscors]

I like this simply based on how he says "The muffins"

[@permanentstateofawe6544]

Clicked this as soon as I saw the dalek.

[@YassineAmil]

translate this! "وقف المماطلة وبدء العمل"

[@Sara-fp7dn]

Yassine Amil لمازا؟

[@iamalittleboat]

finally something on my subject! well, I guess i don't get to learn anything though :/

[@ramlydiosa]

agree its always best to learn the language than rely on translations made by machines... at least for now. I speak 4 languages because the place I was born requires me to do so

[@andrewps339]

After reading the dictionary all other books are just remixes.

[@martindiaz6481]

Nice reference to Asimov's Foundation. Great!

[@kotan2k217]

2:30 tbh, does it really important to know if it's "particular something" or not in common talk? Especially when you can just say "this" or "that", both in Russian and English? Or probably that's just me talking about my least favourite topic of English language🙄😌🤔

[@louisiananlord17]

I think that's something that sci-fi really needs to touch on. There will never be one universal language and no matter how hard Esperanto and Ido and others try to do this. People like speaking their tongue. I think a universal translator is possible but also we can take the biological components in the human brain and synthesize them into an implant that can teach the language at will too. It will just take time. Rosetta Stone has done this well via immersion and native-speaker talk but this is a topic that will evolve with time and energy.

[@deltaxcd]

There can be universal language all we need is combine all languages into one making words synonymous and grammar so forgiving that you will be alowed to say everything in either way

[@louisiananlord17]

People have too much pride in their native language though. Especially Anglophones and Sinophones.

[@deltaxcd]

***** yes, the main problems is grammar nazis who pervent language unification. otherwise languages could naturally combine.and that woud be significant benefit for everyone because every language has good features that could be imported into other languages as well.

[@arpitsingh7947]

Did anyone else noticed the muffin as brain at 3:36 ?

[@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477]

3:59 My language :D

[@vickistouraitis8119]

The Greek translation is bang on 👍

[@intrototj7464]

Its Babel fish as in Tower of Babel. Still I good video.

[@rodrigoadrianrodriguezaedo4477]

3:58 My mother tongue is Spanish :P

[@addie_888]

i just want the dalek and the cybermen

[@klieu90210]

"Placentam" is accusative singular. You want "placentās"

[@alphagamma1289]

I miss these more pop-fiction and nerdy videos from ted-ed

[@famstud1173]

Now I want a muffin....

[@giantcarlo1785]

Now I want a muffin.

[@Languslangus]

dual sufic rules!

[@Xx_BoogieBomber_xX]

0:15 I'd watch that.

[@Patrick-ow7rk]

Just use the TARDIS translation circuit.

[@siquod]

Transformer has dominated the chat

[@Slick_Nick11]

maybe when we encounter an alien race they'll be so advanced that they can translate what where saying and help us translate what there saying

[@lauraseaberg2378]

We can just all stick Babel fish in our ears, guys, no sweat :)

[@Caterpillarowly]

Btw this is exactly what we learned in Latin class :D This is also how humans translate

[@jj_the_ent]

I want a babble fish! 😃

[@smallcorner7942]

Put ''the children eat the muffin'' in Google Translator, translate it into numerous languages and then back to English, you get ''NN Mother Sri Lanka dishes Bu Kai Era WO Aveda べ''.

[@jokingcap6943]

Just do what the Hitchhiker's Guide did, find an alien eat fish :D

[@seanconnery2605]

Lol great animation

[@Chaosinme]

Or we might have to look into the existence of babel fish..?

[@sewaprolo]

No, universal translators or interpreters will not be possible in a very, very, very, very long time, if ever. A machine will never (or at least it will take literal aeons to accomplish it) be able to understand and convey into a target language, the infinite number of nuances of one single source language. Sarcasm, irony, humor, and understanding idiomatic expressions between tongues, among other language aspects, are things machines will probably never be able to replicate. I personally think languages and the way we as a species produce and utter them are what make us human, more than any other aspect of our individuality as a kind or race. This "human" distinction becomes even more apparent when you add the aforementioned sarcasm, irony, humor, and idiomatic expressions to the mix. We are unique in that we can communicate through mouth movements that produce organized, standardized sounds that in turn serve as a channel and means of mutual comprehension between beings of our own species, and we can do it in different relays (namely languages). What other living being in our planet can do that? How can a machine be able to emulate eternities of evolution, especially when languages themselves continue to evolve as we do? It will most likely never happen... ever.

[@rachaelshuman3761]

Saw Doctor who reference clicked immediately.

[@qirimca]

Could you be so kind to allow a new language contribution?

[@Beazerfloyd]

nanoo nanoo indeed

[@Mygoalisdunn]

Wow