Machine/AI Translations

 How reliable are machine/AI translations?

(Sampled with idioms)

Example 1: Google Translate

「明日のことを言うと天井のネズミが笑う」translates to "the rats on the ceiling laugh when I mention tomorrow" which on its own is quite nonsensical. Although the translation is accurate to a degree, without prior context, the idiom itself is hard to grasp. This particular saying is similar to the English quote "we make our plans and God laughs," and simply expresses the universal truth of we will never know what the future holds.

Example 2: DeepL

「出る杭は打たれる」is a phrase where its meaning is established with understanding the nuances of Japan's collectivist society. Unlike America, Japanese collectivism places an emphasis on being a part of the group rather than individualism, thus the nail which sticks out gets hammered in. The translation itself is accurate but what was unique here was that DeepL provided an alternative 2nd explanation that incorporated the deeper meaning of the proverb.

Example 3: ChatGPT

「井の中の蛙、大海を知らず」is a phrase similar to the idiom "to be a big fish in a small pond" where both meanings stress the importance of widening a limited perspective. ChatGPT did a great job here, not only translating the sentence accurately but also provided a proper explanation for the idiom without being asked to.

While the translations itself were accurate for all three different programs, I find ChatGPT to offer the most literate explanation and translation but for a simple, direct translation? They seem decent enough with some previous context.