Comments on: Using Semantics to Improve Machine Translation http://www.altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/ The most wonderful search engines you've never seen! Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:10:09 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Mike Unwalla @ TechScribe http://www.altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/comment-page-1/#comment-110188 Mike Unwalla @ TechScribe Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:49:56 +0000 http://altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/#comment-110188 Kathleen wrote, "The accuracy of automated machine translation technology depends on an understanding language." Marie-Claire wrote, "I don’t think it's all down to word and sentence meaning but giving the machine the opportunity and the means to understand the world around it." I agree with both statements. However, some texts can be both structurally correct and ambiguous. For example, "Find the man with a dog" can mean either of the following: * Use a dog to find the man. * Find the man who has a dog. Possibly, the context lets readers know which meaning is correct. Therefore, possibly, a machine can know which context is correct. However, in many cases, context does not let readers know which meaning is correct. The ONLY way to know with 100% certainty is to ask the person who wrote the text. (Lawyers make huge amounts of money by arguing about the meaning of text.) For machine translation to be 100% accurate, it is necessary (but not sufficient) to use a controlled language for the source text. (A controlled language is a natural language that has restrictions on the grammar and the vocabulary that can be used. Ideally, each term has only one specific meaning.) By the way, I am not belittling the achievements of Cognition Technologies, Inc. and other players in the market. Machine translation has a great future. Kathleen wrote, “The accuracy of automated machine translation technology depends on an understanding language.”

Marie-Claire wrote, “I don’t think it’s all down to word and sentence meaning but giving the machine the opportunity and the means to understand the world around it.”

I agree with both statements. However, some texts can be both structurally correct and ambiguous. For example, “Find the man with a dog” can mean either of the following:
* Use a dog to find the man.
* Find the man who has a dog.

Possibly, the context lets readers know which meaning is correct. Therefore, possibly, a machine can know which context is correct.

However, in many cases, context does not let readers know which meaning is correct. The ONLY way to know with 100% certainty is to ask the person who wrote the text. (Lawyers make huge amounts of money by arguing about the meaning of text.)

For machine translation to be 100% accurate, it is necessary (but not sufficient) to use a controlled language for the source text. (A controlled language is a natural language that has restrictions on the grammar and the vocabulary that can be used. Ideally, each term has only one specific meaning.)

By the way, I am not belittling the achievements of Cognition Technologies, Inc. and other players in the market. Machine translation has a great future.

]]> By: Marie-Claire http://www.altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/comment-page-1/#comment-69170 Marie-Claire Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:23:12 +0000 http://altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/#comment-69170 There are so many technologies and theories that come into play in machine translation. I started with machine translation, slowly found myself doing information retrieval (due to a theory of mine where NLG could play a part), which then obviously threw me into natural language generation. I found that my mind always came back to using these things for machine translation. There are so many different dimensions, like construction grammar, mental spaces, and areas of cognitive psychology that I believe could play an important role. Ontologies are a problem because they take ages to compile manually (wordnet isn't so complete for specific domains), but they do work, especially if you use semantic web things like OWL. I think we can build the resources to achieve a high rate of understanding. I don't think it's all down to word and sentence meaning but giving the machine the opportunity and the means to understand the world around it. Going beyond the language alone and working with entire constructions, and how they interact. It's a really interesting area of research, and pretty exciting as well. Can it really work? Well there's no reason why not. Your work is very interesting. Marie-Claire There are so many technologies and theories that come into play in machine translation. I started with machine translation, slowly found myself doing information retrieval (due to a theory of mine where NLG could play a part), which then obviously threw me into natural language generation. I found that my mind always came back to using these things for machine translation. There are so many different dimensions, like construction grammar, mental spaces, and areas of cognitive psychology that I believe could play an important role. Ontologies are a problem because they take ages to compile manually (wordnet isn’t so complete for specific domains), but they do work, especially if you use semantic web things like OWL. I think we can build the resources to achieve a high rate of understanding. I don’t think it’s all down to word and sentence meaning but giving the machine the opportunity and the means to understand the world around it. Going beyond the language alone and working with entire constructions, and how they interact.

It’s a really interesting area of research, and pretty exciting as well. Can it really work? Well there’s no reason why not. Your work is very interesting.

Marie-Claire

]]> By: Jean-Luc http://www.altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/comment-page-1/#comment-68951 Jean-Luc Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:43:22 +0000 http://altsearchengines.com/2008/06/10/using-semantics-to-improve-machine-translation/#comment-68951 Good to see machine translation is improving. I'm believing the best way to improve machine translation is to use a global translation memory where users (human translators) can enter what they think is the best translation. Good to see machine translation is improving.
I’m believing the best way to improve machine translation is to use a global translation memory where users (human translators) can enter what they think is the best translation.

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