Skip to content
FacebookTwitterLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • Join ATA
  • Renew
  • Shop ATAware
  • Contact Us
  • Log In Welcome, My Account
American Translators Association (ATA)
Find a Language Professional
  • Certification
    • Certification
      • Guide to ATA Certification
      • What is a Certified Translation?
      • How the Exam is Graded
      • Review and Appeal Process
      • Looking for more information?
    • Taking the Exam
      • About the Exam
      • How to Prepare
      • Practice Test
      • Exam Schedule
    • Already Certified?
      • Put Your Credentials To Work
      • Continuing Education Requirement
    • Register Buttons
      • Register for Exam
         
      • Order Practice Test
  • Career and Education
    • For Newcomers
      • Student Resources
      • Starting Your Career
      • The Savvy Newcomer Blog
    • For Professionals
      • Growing Your Career
      • Business Strategies
      • Next Level Blog
      • Client Outreach Kit
      • Mentoring
    • Resources
      • For Educators and Trainers
      • Tools and Technology
      • Publications
      • School Outreach
    • Event Buttons
      • Visit ATA66
      • Upcoming Webinars
  • Client Assistance
    • Client Resources
      • Why Should I Hire a Professional?
      • Translator vs. Interpreter
      • Buying Language Services
    • More Client Resources
      • Need a Certified Translation?
      • What is Machine Translation?
      • The ATA Compass Blog
    • Find a Translator Button
      • Find a Language Professional
  • Events
    • Events
      • Annual Conference
      • Free Events for ATA Members
      • Certification Exam Schedule
    • More Events
      • Virtual Workshops and Events
      • Live and On-Demand Webinars
      • Calendar of Events
    • Event Buttons
      • Visit ATA66
      • Upcoming Webinars
         
  • News
    • Industry News
    • Advocacy and Outreach
    • The ATA Chronicle
    • The ATA Podcast
    • ATA Newsbriefs
    • Press Releases
  • Member Center
    • Member Resources
      • Join ATA
      • Renew Your Membership
      • Benefits of Membership
      • Divisions & Special Interest Groups
      • Chapters, Affiliates, Partners, and Other Groups
      • Get Involved
      • Member Discounts
      • Shop ATAware
    • Already a Member?
      • Member Login
      • Connect with Members
      • Credentialed Interpreter Designation
      • Become a Voting Member
      • Submit Member News
      • Submit Your Event
      • Contact Us
    • Member Buttons
  • About Us
    • About ATA
      • Who We Are
      • Honors and Awards Program
      • Advertise with Us
      • Media Kit
    • How ATA Works
      • Board of Directors
      • Committees
      • Policies & Procedures
      • Code of Ethics
      • ATA Team
    • Contact Button
      • Contact ATA
  • Join ATA
  • Renew Your Membership
  • Contact Us
  • Log In
  • Find a Language Professional
February 17, 2021

Researchers Claim that AI-Translated Text Are Less “Lexically” Rich than Human Translations

Industry News

In a new study, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands and the University of Maryland attempt to quantify the lexical and grammatical diversity of “machine translationese” (i.e., the fingerprints made by artificial intelligence [AI] translation algorithms). They claim to have found a “quantitatively measurable” difference between the linguistic richness of machine translation systems’ training data and their translations, which could be a product of statistical bias.

The researchers examined a range of different machine learning model architectures, including neural machine translation and phrase-based statistical machine translation. In experiments, they tasked each with translating between English, French, and Spanish and compared the original text with the translations using nine different metrics.

The researchers report that in experiments, the original training data—a collection of reference translations—always had a higher lexical diversity than the machine translations regardless of the type of model used. In other words, the reference translations were consistently more diverse in terms of vocabulary and synonym usage than the translations from the models.

The researchers point out that while the loss of lexical diversity could be a desirable side effect of machine translation systems (in terms of simplification or consistency), the loss of morphological richness is problematic as it can prevent systems from making grammatically correct choices. Bias can also emerge, with machine translation systems having a stronger negative impact in terms of diversity and richness on morphologically richer languages like Spanish and French.

“As machine translation systems have reached a quality that is (arguably) close to that of human translations and as such are being used widely on a daily basis, we believe it’s time to look into the potential effects of machine translation algorithms on language itself,” the researchers wrote in a paper describing their work. “All of our metrics indicate that the original training data has more lexical and morphological diversity compared to translations produced by the machine translation systems.”

The researchers propose no solutions to the machine translation problems they claim to have uncovered. However, they believe their metrics could drive future research on the subject.

Read Full Article from Venture Beat (02/03/21)
Author: Wiggers, Kyle

 

News summaries © copyright 2020 SmithBucklin

Share this

Posts navigation

← Studies from Japan Find Singing in Some Languages Could Spread COVID-19 More Easily than Others
Dutch and Catalan Translators of Amanda Gorman’s Work Withdraw after Uproar that Black Translators Weren’t Chosen →

Latest Posts

  • ATA Statement on Artificial Intelligence May 20, 2025
  • Pennsylvania Recruiting Bilingual Workers with a Pay Incentive Pilot Program May 5, 2025
  • A County in Illinois Rolls Out “I Speak” Cards as Part of April’s “Language Access Month” May 5, 2025
  • Trump Administration Cuts Funding for Ukrainian Literature Translations at Harvard May 5, 2025
  • Washington State Senate Passes Bill Enhancing Court Interpreting Services for Non-English Speakers May 5, 2025

Topics

  • Advocacy & Outreach
  • Annual Conference
  • Book Reviews
  • Business Strategies
  • Certification Exam
  • Certification Program
  • Client Assistance
  • Educators and Trainers
  • Growing Your Career
  • Industry News
  • Interpreting
  • Member Benefits
  • Member News
  • Mentoring
  • Networking
  • Public Outreach
  • Publications
  • Resources
  • School Outreach
  • Specializations
  • Starting Your Career
  • Student Resources
  • Tools and Technology
  • Translation
Language Services Directory
ata_logo_footer

American Translators Association
211 N. Union Street, Suite 100
Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone +1-703-683-6100
Fax +1-703-778-7222

  • Certification
  • Career and Education
  • Client Assistance
  • Events
  • News
  • Member Center
  • About Us
  • Member Login
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Submit Feedback

© 2025 - American Translators Association

Find a Language Professional
Scroll To Top
By clicking accept or closing this message and continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.I AcceptPrivacy Policy