Google is introducing a new system to translate text. The Neural Machine Translation system will make Google Translate smarter and even more natural. This system is only limited to only eight languages. Though the tech company will eventually expand it to 103 languages.
Google Translate's New Neural Machine Translation
Google Translate have been really useful both on mobile and web. People who are interested in other cultures and languages will greatly benefit from this improvement. Google posted on its blog that the new neural system will be integrated into the Google Translate.
It should be noted that the system currently being used is a large-scale statistical machine translation. It uses statistical models to translate text. The Neural Machine Translation is a few years in the making. The difference lies how much is translated at a time.
The neural system is able to translate whole sentences. The translation is not by word or phrase. This method helps it generate the most relevant translation. Furthermore, its result will be a more natural translation that reflects an actual human speaking. It also has a proper grammar.
Thus, it will be a lot easier to read. This is caused by the end-to-end learning system embedded on the Neural Machine Translation. To put it simply, the new system constantly learns in order to improve upon its translations over time.
New System Still Limited To Eight Languages
The current system that Google Translate uses is applicable to 103 languages. However, with the new Neural Machine Translation, it will come into eight languages to and from English and French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish.
Apparently, these languages represent around one-third of the world's population. That amounts to more than 35 percent of Google Translate queries. Though the tech company plans to expand it eventually to 103 languages.
Google On Machine Learning And Artificial Intelligence
According to CNET, this improvement on the Google Translate is part of Google's plan with artificial intelligence and machine learning. It's an addition to the Google Assistant that rivals Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. Google CEO Sundar Pichai described it perfectly that it is on the way to becoming an AI-first company.
