How AI is gaining ground in simultaneous interpretation - EL PAÍS USA - Translation

Until recently, it would have sounded like science fiction. Imagine making a video call to an individual who lives on the other side of the world. This person speaks Japanese, but through your headphones, you hear their words in English. It’s similar to having a live interpreter, who can translate different languages in person or online. In this case, however, there is no human involved, but rather artificial intelligence (AI) that can provide simultaneous interpretation.

Kudo, a company that has grown in the market by connecting interpreters with corporate clients, has taken a step forward by including a technology that performs simultaneous translations in online conferences. Its job is not to translate written sentences, but rather to carrying out voice translations, allowing participants in a video conference to hear the translation as if they had an interpreter present.

In a demonstration carried out for EL PAÍS, Tzachi Levy, Kudo’s product manager, speaks in English while he is interpreted almost in real time in Spanish. Although the voice sounds robotic and there is a slight delay compared to a human translation, the result is still surprising. While a human interpretation usually has a delay of five to seven seconds, the artificial experience is around 10.

The company has 20 corporate clients that already use this service, which continues to be constantly improved. The tool works on Kudo’s own video conferencing platform, but is also integrated with Microsoft Teams, which is popular in the corporate world.

At Kudo, they explain that in situations where 100% accuracy in translation is required, the human interpreter will always be the best option. Levy gives the example of European Parliament sessions: “Artificial systems will probably not be used, but in smaller meetings, where there are no interpreters available at the time, this solution can be effective.”

Levy argues that the advance of AI is inevitable, and that progress that was originally thought to take five to 10 years has been achieved in a matter of months. The field is evolving so quickly that, he estimates, within the next year AI could accurately achieve simultaneous translations in 90% of common situations.

Artificial and human intelligence

In June of this year, Wired did a comparison of Kudo technology with interpretation performed by experts. Humans obtained significantly superior results compared to the AI tool, mainly in regards to understanding context. Claudio Fantinuoli, head of technology at Kudo and creator of the automatic translation tool, tells EL PAÍS that the model evaluated by Wired three months ago has already been improved by 25%. The next step in development is to integrate generative artificial intelligence to make the user experience more pleasant: for the voice to sound more fluid, human and able to capture intonation.

One of the main challenges, according to Fantinuoli, is getting AI to interpret the context of the narrative, in other words, to read between the lines. This challenge is still great, but progress is being made thanks to “large language models,” such as the one behind ChatGPT.

Fantinuoli, who is also a university professor and teaches young students aspiring to become professional interpreters, says “he sees no conflict” between AI and human training. What’s more, he believes human interpreters will always be of higher quality. “I try to make them [his students] understand that robots are a reality in the market and that they have to be at the top of their game,” he says. “AI is driving them to be very good interpreters.”

One voice, many languages

Another option that is set to appear in the near future is to add the speaker’s own voice to the interpretation. Fantinuoli says that technically this is already feasible, and it will be integrated into the company’s service in a matter of months. Other companies have already tested the possibility of using a single voice to play content in different languages, but not simultaneously. This is the case of the ElevenLabs platform, which can interpret 30 different languages with the same voice.

The process is simple: a user uploads an audio of more than a minute of the voice they want to replicate. From this file, the tool reads aloud the text they want, either in the source language or other available ones. The platform allows the user to make custom adjustments, fine-tuning the clarity of the reading or even exaggerating the style of the voice, according to their preferences. The program not only imitates the voice, but also captures and reflects distinctive nuances, such as tone, rhythm, accent and intonation.

Recently, Meta launched a multimodal translation model, which can perform speech-to-text, speech-to-speech, text-to-speech and text-to-text translations for up to 100 languages, depending on the task. This could be of use to polyglot speakers, those who mix two or three languages in a single sentence. Meta claims that this model is capable of discerning the different languages at play and carrying out the corresponding translations. While it still shows some small errors, it works quite well when the sentence is expressed in a single language. The tool is available for free in the Beta version.

Claudio Fantinuoli says the Meta’s new tool is surprising, comparing it to “the ChatGPT of spoken discourse.” “What they do is put together all the models, which can do many tasks at the same time. This is the future,” he says.

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How to translate any language on your iPhone, including spoken and written text - BGR - Translation

Summer is almost over, but you might still have trips planned for this year. If anything, now might be the best time to travel to avoid the heat. Whether or not the heat or something else is pushing you to escape to a new destination, not speaking the local language shouldn’t stop you. The smartphone in your pocket is a great translation tool with the right apps. And if you happen to own an iPhone, then it comes with a built-in Translate app from Apple.

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The app can translate phrases, conversations, or text you might find online or out in the world. Below, I’ll show you how to use Translate on iPhone, including a few tricks you should know.

Translate text, voice, and conversations

Every iPhone that Apple sells ships with the Translate app preloaded. And older models running iOS 14 or later also have the app installed.

To translate text, voice, and conversations, just open the app and select the languages using the arrow symbols. You need to set your language (English or something else) and the language of the country you’re in. Apple offers Spanish in the following example.

iPhone’s default Translate app can translate text between different languages. Image source: Apple Inc.

Then, just use the apps’ fields to enter or dictate text. Translate will give you the translation instantly, and you can play it out loud if you’re trying to talk to a local.

Tap the Conversation menu if you want to converse with someone. The app will then show the discussion in a chat-like window. You’ll be able to see each person’s lines in both languages. That way, both parties can understand each other.

For conversations, you either tap the microphone icon for each person or tap the three-dot menu to enable an Auto Translate feature. The latter might be more useful, but it’ll be up to you to determine how to hold conversations via the Translate app.

iPhone’s default Translate app supports conversations. Image source: Apple Inc.

Use the camera to translate text on iPhone

When traveling, you’ll likely need to understand restaurant menus, commute information, and information about local attractions. Some of those might be bilingual already, but that’s not always a given. Also, you might not speak English, which is usually the second language you’d see in such places.

The iPhone’s Translate app can come in handy again. Just tap the Camera menu and ensure the camera gets a good look at the text. That means the text has to be in focus for the app to work. You can tap the circle to pause and view the translations.

From there, you can copy the translated text, add it to favorites, and listen to both the original and the translated text. You can also screenshot the translation as you would take a regular screenshot.

The same Camera setting lets you select a photo that contains text from your Photos app. Just tap the photos symbol to choose the images you need. You should be snapping pics of everything you think you should have handy while you roam the streets, like the entry conditions for a museum. Later, you can perform the translation.

Translate text in apps

As Apple explains in a different support document, you can use the iPhone’s built-in translation tool in various apps, not just the Camera and Photos apps.

Translation works in Safari, Messages, Mail, and third-party apps. Whenever you select text on the handset in these apps, you can tap it and then go for the right arrow menu to surface a Translate option. In Safari, you’ll find a familiar Translate icon.

There is one big caveat

The idea is to translate any app on iPhone, and that’s a problem for now. The Translate app only supports 19 languages, including two versions of English and Chinese. You can download as many of them as you need for on-device translation.

The list of languages that the Translate app currently supports on iPhone and iPad. Image source: Apple Inc.

If the language spoken in the country you’re traveling to isn’t in the list above, the iPhone’s Translate app won’t be good enough.

Thankfully, there’s a solution. You can download Google Translate on iPhone to get access to almost every language in the world. And Google Translate works similarly. It supports text, voice, and conversation translation. It also lets you use the camera to translate text.

What Google Translate doesn’t have is integration with other iPhone apps. But even so, I keep Google Translate installed on my iPhone to ensure I never get lost in translation.

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An mTRAN-mRNA interaction mediates mitochondrial translation initiation in plants - Science - Translation

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An mTRAN-mRNA interaction mediates mitochondrial translation initiation in plants  Science

Arrival: What Louise Told General Shang (His Wife's Dying Words Translated) - Screen Rant - Translation

Summary

• In the movie Arrival, Louise uses the dying words of General Shang's wife to convince him to stand down from starting a war with the alien ships.
• The movie intentionally keeps the Mandarin lines untranslated to focus on General Shang's reaction, making it more powerful.
• Shang's wife's dying words, "In war, there are no winners, only widows," highlight the devastating consequences of war and the importance of communication in defusing conflicts.

In Denis Villeneuve's 2016 science fiction thriller Arrival, the pivotal moment comes when Louise (Amy Adams) uses the dying words of General Shang's (Tzi Ma) wife to convince the Chinese leader to stand down from military action against the alien ships. She does this by using information she learned from Shang in the future after she cracked the Heptapod's alien language and the key to understanding their non-linear timeline. In the film, she communicates over satellite phone the same words she whispered to him in the future, which causes China to de-escalate.

The movie intentionally delivers these lines in Mandarin, and it's not translated for the audience. This was done purposefully by Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer, so that the focus would be on General Shang's reaction, making it more powerful. Villeneuve later admitted he wanted the words to not be translated in the movie, but he always thought what was said should not be a secret. After the movie's release, Villeneuve finally told audiences what Louise says to Shang to prevent him from starting a war with Arrival's aliens in the movie.

General Shang's Wife's Dying Words Are "In War, There Are No Winners, Only Widows"

When Louise calls General Shang during the crucial moments before China attacks, she is able to reach him on his private number and relay back to him the last words Shang's wife said before she died. What Louise says in Mandarin translates into "In war, there are no winners, only widows." She knows that information and how to reach him directly because at an event 18 months after the events surrounding the Heptapods, Louise met Shang and he gave her the information she needed to make the call.

Louise's understanding of the Heptapod language, and its ability to comprehend things outside the confines of time, allows her to recall these future memories at a time when the world stood on the brink of war with the alien species. Several other countries were following China's lead and planning to deploy military action against the aliens after they misinterpreted a message from the extraterrestrials to mean "use weapon." In a fast-paced, emotional layering of the present and future events, Louise and Shang are able to communicate and likely save humanity from what turns out to be a benevolent species.

Why The Real Meaning Of Shang's Wife's Dying Words Is So Important

Understanding in the long run it was the right decision, Shang himself makes Louise tell him these words in the future so that he will know not to attack the alien ships in the past. The meaning behind these words in the midst of Arrival's poignant ending is especially significant. While Shang, China, and other countries may have seen force as the only reasonable option against an unknown adversary, the reality that his wife tries to communicate is that war is not a zero-sum game that can claim winners and losers. All sides lose significantly in war, including in the massive loss of human life.

Related: 1 Arrival Opening Sequence Detail Revealed Its Twist Ending

Before this conversation, Shang is determined to use his military against the 12 ships that have descended on Earth because he feels there are no other options to consider after failed communications. A few words from his wife completely change his perspective. Ironically, it's simple communication - the tools Louise deploys - that ultimately helps defuse the conflict. Arrival, in its most literal form, focuses on another species descending to Earth. However, in a deeper reading of the theme of the movie, Louise, Shang, and other characters arrive at a resonant understanding of what it means to make connections, to communicate with others, and how to truly live.

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Review: The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary - The Irish News - Dictionary

There were times in Green Shoot’s production of The Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary, a dramatic eulogy to the late, great David Ervine, when you felt Long Kesh must have been a kind of OU course for people reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist.

That’s maybe unfair, and we heard about abuse, although Gusty Spence recommended the book there to his jailed protégé and the message went home.

For Ervine’s nuanced politics were left wing, with a repeated line about ‘big house unionism’ ignoring the two up-two down reality of their voters.

This spread to a humorous scene early on when David Ervine’s mother assures Ian Paisley on the doorstep that he has their vote while his dad, a life-long socialist, says not on his watch. But more colourfully.

The first half of Robert Niblock’s one man show about the life of the man who put the PUP properly on the map was affectionate.

Paul Garrett who plays David Ervine in 'The Man Who Swallowed A Dictionary', a new play by Bobby Niblock. Picture by Hugh Russell

Premiered at the Lyric last night, it was a portrait of one man’s journey rather than the conflict overall and Paul Garrett portrayed him energetically and with feeling.

We heard that when asked what sort of baby it was after his birth, usually meaning gender, the messenger said ‘He’s a Protestant’. He was, but a fairly unusual one in his time and place.

The narrative covered the ground, from leaving school early to hanging out with his teenage mates.

One segue goes from groping big Tracey, who has enhanced her figure with stuffed newspaper with a cutting detailing fighting in Derry that heralds the start of the Troubles, to the history.

There was a plausible sense of Ervine sleepwalking into the UVF, led by the first guy he has to call sir.

He’s bolshy but settles into the mindset, having as a kid learnt his neighbours might be dubbed ‘Fenians’.

This is familiar territory but from a particular perspective when it came to the actual violence.  Coalisland Is namechecked as well as Black Friday when IRA bombs clustered in Belfast city centre.

Family life suffers and Jeanette, Ervine’s teenage love and wife, resists the money due her from the paramilitaries once her husband receives his lengthy sentence. The judge pronounced Ervine good with words but still a terrorist, sentencing him to 11 years.

The guy’s verbal talent was threaded through the script via key words and phrases – crossing the Rubicon to determined, the latter from grandson Mark aiming to be a superhero – whose definitions are read out from the Oxford English Dictionary. David Craig’s nice set consists of two enormous books laid out open onstage.

There are more than decent passages, with Davy’s reaction to his grandson’s death by suicide harrowing.

Yet we didn’t entirely get why this engaging man shifted his world view, even though his quotes, including the famous line noting ‘We’re all just people’ gave a clue. 

There was realpolitik, also real passion on behalf of his community with Ervine pleading with Mo Mowlam to release Loyalist prisoners as well as Republicans and save the Good Friday Agreement.

She phoned Tony, of course. The Lyric has fielded a few dramas recently on questions of Irish political identity, including the outstanding Agreement.  

This wasn’t that but a different look at history through a single, significant life. Matthew McElhinney directed with care.

:: The Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary runs until September 10 at The Lyric Theatre, then tours ending up at the Playhouse, Derry on September 24. 

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Spell It: 7 new words in the dictionary that reflect our times - Gulf News - Dictionary

Lexicographers observe everything that’s happening and document language change, defining the terms that help us understand the era and the world we live in. Image Credit: Unsplash/Houcine Ncib

We’re more than halfway through 2023 and we’ve already seen some incredible things this year. Historically significant moments, like India’s latest moon landing. The dawn of the age of artificial intelligence (AI). There’s a lot happening, and language is working hard to keep up.

Click start to play today’s Spell It, where we wade through a ‘pool’ of new lingo and jargon that’s been added to dictionaries this year.

Lexicographers observe everything that’s happening and document language change, defining the terms that help us understand the era and the world we live in. Here are a few of the latest additions and updates to Dictionary.com that give you an insight into what’s happening around us:

1. Antifragile (adj.)

This word is defined as ‘becoming more robust when exposed to stressors, uncertainty or risk’. It was coined by Lebanese-born American mathematical statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2012 book, Antifragile, and can be used for both people and objects.

2. Trauma dumping (n.)

This word means: ‘unsolicited, one-sided sharing of traumatic or intensely negative experiences or emotions in an inappropriate setting or with people who are unprepared for the interaction’. This could happen in a meeting at work, or on a TV talk show – and assail people when they least expect it.

3. Heritage language (n.)

Dictionary.com defines this word as ‘a language used at home and spoken natively by the adults in a family, but often not fully acquired by subsequent generations whose schooling and other socialisation occurs primarily in a different language, usually a dominant or official language in the surrounding society’. For instance, Hindi could be your heritage language, but even though you understand it to an extent, you may not be able to speak, read or write it very well.

4. Petfluencer (n.)

You’ve heard of influencers, but what about petfluencers? These are people who ‘gain a large following on social media by posting entertaining images or videos of their cat, dog or other pet’. The term is also often used to refer to the animal featured in the social content. Lexicographers expect the ending ‘-fluencer’ to be used frequently in the following years, to create more compound terms. For instance, grandfluencer refers to an older influencer, someone who could be old enough to be a grandparent.

5. Forever chemicals (plural, n.)

This word refers to long-lasting chemicals, like hydrofluorocarbons and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are used in the manufacture of common household items, such as nonstick cookware and flame-resistant furniture. The chemicals remain in the environment because they break down very slowly over time, and consequently end up within the bodies of animals and humans.

6. Superdodger (n.)

Haven’t tested COVID-19 positive even once? You might be a superdodger. This word refers to ‘anyone who, for unverified reasons, remains uninfected or asymptomatic even after repeated exposure to a contagious virus’.

7. Tifo (n.)

If you’re a football fan, you likely have heard this term, which refers to a coordinated display of large banners, flags and even signs, performed in unison by the most fervent supporters and ultra-fans in a stadium. Originating from Italian, the word literally means ‘typhus (fever)’, and figuratively implies fevered, passionate support.

What do you think of these new dictionary additions? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.

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In 'Babel,' author Rebecca F. Kuang explores translation as a tool of imperialism - WBUR News - Translation

Click here for the original audio and to read a book excerpt.

Many readers know author Rebecca F. Kuang for her gut-wrenching fantasy novels. Last year, she released "Babel: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution."

The book explores translation as a tool of imperialism and instantly topped the New York Times Best Seller list.

Here & Now's Kalyani Saxena covered the book's launch event in Boston last year.

This segment aired on August 30, 2023.

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