When computers aren t enough

When computers aren’t enough

However efficient the localisation process, the costs will never be negligible, because people are involved throughout – and highly-qualified people at that. The IT professionals amongst us will be looking for an automated solution – machine translation perhaps? Unfortunately, since its earliest days, machine translation (the use of computers to translate documents from one language to another automatically) has suffered from exaggerated claims and impossible expectations. One characteristic story tells of an American military system designed to translate Russian into English, which is said to have rendered the famous Russian saying ‘The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’ into ‘The vodka is good but the meat is rotten.’ My advice, look to buy shares in localisation companies now – their future looks assured and the demand’s going to be high.