Báo cáo khoa học: THE MACHINE AND THE MAN

Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts WHEN extensive mechanical translation becomes a reality, many new jobs will be created. Some of these jobs will be closely related to existing occupations.
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Báo cáo khoa học: "THE MACHINE AND THE MAN" [ Mechanical Translation, vol.1, no.2, August 1954; pp. 20-22] THE MACHINE AND THE MAN* Victor H. Yngve Research Laboratory of Electronics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MassachusettsWHEN extensive mechanical translation challenge to the linguist, since it requires himbecomes a reality, many new jobs will be to consider language as it actually is and tocreated. Some of these jobs will be closely specify exactly and completely all the oper-related to existing occupations. In this cate- ations necessary for translation. As has beengory are those occupations connected with the pointed out, the machine will be in the positionconstruction of the machines — electronic of a person trying to translate from language Adesign and construction, machine shop work, to language B, using a set of rules expressedand the like. Then there will be others in a third language and never knowing the mean-involved in the daily running of the machine — ing of what is being translated. The challengetypists, operators, office workers, and admin- to the linguist and to man as the creator andistrative personnel. In addition to these rather designer of the machine is to provide this setobvious occupations, there are some that may of rules.be less obvious. In the following article we shall Another widely held assumption is that adiscuss several of the less obvious roles machine may never be able to produce a per-that humans may play in relation to a trans- fect translation. For this reason, a good deal oflating machine. thought has gone into the possibility of man- Man in the role of creator of the machine, the machine combinations. One of the great diffi-designer of the system by which it translates, culties that man as the creator of the machinewas one of the earliest concepts to be found in will have to face is the fact that the input lan-MT literature. This idea is implicit in prac- guage does not have sufficient semantic explic-tically all of the work that has been done on itness in many cases to provide a machine withmechanical translation. The machines that enough information to solve the many problemshave been considered are slave machines, built in grammar, syntax, and multiple meanings.by man and tirelessly carrying out to the letter Prof. Erwin Reifler pursued this problem andthe instructions originally given them. The suggested a number of ways in which a humanburden that this throws upon man is the task pre-editor could make the input text moreof designing the machine and instructing it in explicit. The job description of the pre-editordetail in the routine it is to use to translate is to be found in Reiflers first paper, ab-everything fed into it. stracted in the last issue. Whatever the Perhaps Y. Bar-Hillel has given the most native reader has to do by way of interpretationdetailed statement of the tacit assumption that in the case of non-distinctive features of theunderlies the thought of many others when he FL (foreign or input language) text, can atwrites of the necessity for man to provide an least at the present stage of computer develop-operational syntax for the machine. By this ment, not be mechanized. Therefore, all thathe means a program that the machine can carry an FL text leaves to the FL reader to deter-out in sequence, at each point being given the mine concerning lexical meaning, connotations,exact criteria for determining what to do next. grammatical meaning, and word order, has toThis program is to be capable of translating all be added to the FL text before it is fed into thepossible sentences from the input language to computer. And it has to be added in a formthe output language. Furthermore Dr. Bar- that the computer can digest.Hillel has outlined the things that he considers Perhaps his most far-reaching suggestion,necessary for man to do before the machine as far as its possible impact on man, was hiscan get to work. He envisions the compilation universal MT orthography. ...