modern mt systems and the myth of human translation: real world status quo

Modern MT Systems and theMyth of Human Translation:

Real World Status Quo

● Intro

● MT & HT Definitions

● Comparison MT vs. HT

● Evaluation Methods

● FAE Framework

● Conclusion

● Discussion

Is This for Me?

● (Freelance) translators and agencies

● Developers and vendors of MT systems

● People concerned with MT evaluation

● People concerned with HT evaluation

This talk may be of benefit for:

Not for interpreters and speech/non-text based issues

Introduction

● What is Machine Translation (MT)?

● What is [Human] Translation (HT)?

„MT is the automatic translation of human language by computers.“

„The process of transforming text from one language into another language.“

„A written communication in a second language having the same meaning as the written communication in a first language.“

Introduction II

● Is there such a thing as HT?„Pure Human Translation“„Machine Aided Human Translation“„Human Aided Machine Translation“

● Is HT equal to HT?

„Native Speaker“„Speaks Language X“„[Trained] Professional“„Trained Prof. specialized in X“

HT/MT Examples & Quizshow

Original: Einzigartiger Freizeitpark für Groß und Klein

T1: Singular recreational park for large and smallT2: Unique leisure time park for largely and smallT3: Ein Fantastische DinoPark ferrcoitungT4: Unique Freizeitpark at big and littleT5: Unique amusement park for great and KleinT6: Unique leisure park for big and little

T1: Babelfish/SYSTRANT2: SDL FreeTranslation.comT3: HumanT4: InterTranT5: Linguatex eTranslationT6: PetaMem LangSuite MT

Summary HT Quality

● Not all HTs are equal● Significant amount done by untrained people● Better performance of good(!) MT systems on these

examples suggests rising MT competitiveness

Issues with MT & HT Evaluation

● Evaluation vs. Similarity• Ngram does work? Why?

● Reference Translations:• Cost & Availability

• Multiples – which

• „Axiomatic Truth“

● Judging• Expensive

• Questionable results

● Using MT-eval methods: limitations just mentioned

Mission Impossible?

● Fully automatic evaluation method for both MT & HT – with no human Intervention?

● Purpose: Automatic QA of translations – at least safe rejection of bad results

● Part of an iterative process (with faith in the translator)

We need it – should we give up?

Let's Try Anyway!

● Text Metrics• Length

• Word/Sentence/Paragraph count

● Statistics• Character/Word occurrence

• Ngram

• Collocations

● Translator Parameters

● Monolingual Corpora for SL & TL

• Statistical reference

● Dictionaries & Thesauri• Adequacy check

• Translation distance

• Sentence Alignment

● Parallel Corpora• Translation Length Ratio

Extract Information Reference Data

Workflow

Conclusion

● Translation results of the best contemporary MT systems can be considered on par with the average HT

● The presented evaluation framework is just the beginning of an automatic evaluation method for both MT & HT

● It is a robust and reliable validation method with safe rejection of invalid/bad translations

● In production Q1/2005

Thanks!

Q & A