What Is Real Time Language Translation Innovation 2022?

What is real time language translation innovation? Innovations in every century have brought great changes that create massive effects lasting even into the next centuries. A lot of these innovations – while others consider them to be bad and bring only destruction to many lives – have still helped many people live more comfortably. Specifically, these innovations make most lives more comfortable by making information more available and accessible to many people.

However, these innovations cannot do what they do without the help and guidance of human hands and knowledge. In fact, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO for short –  defines robots and artificial intelligence as systems that will help humans and enhance our abilities to make decisions, understand situations, and the ways we act. In simpler terms, this means that robots are only meant to help us. 

Now we can spend the rest of the article talking about robots and artificial intelligence and what they are, could be, and do, but that’s not the main point of this article. The main idea begins with how fast and accessible something as important as information is to most people nowadays, all thanks to the largely beloved internet. 

The internet has been described as being able to compress time and space, and rightfully so. The internet has long since served as a bridge to the gap between people, communities, and countries.

Information can travel in the blink of an eye from Japan to the United States, something that wasn’t even possible and thought to be nearly impossible just a few decades ago. 

With information traveling faster and reaching more places than any human vehicle, it has also become harder to decipher. People from different countries can communicate with each other, except for one problem: they cannot understand what the other is saying in most cases. 

This phenomenon is known as the language barrier – preventing people from truly connecting with each other.

This is where the real time language translation innovation becomes handy in many of our lives. However, before we get into the nitty-gritty about the innovation, the article will break down the topic starting with the problem and ending with what real time language translation innovation really is. So, without further ado, let’s begin!

What is the Language Barrier?

One of the biggest obstacles that communication as a subject faces is the ability of people to understand what others are saying. A misunderstanding or even just a slight misinterpretation of the tone of voice, use of words, or even the speaking volume can cause conflict between both parties. 

In every language and dialect, there is a cultural background that affects how messages are delivered within that culture and community.

This phenomenon is known to communication experts as the language barrier. 

More specifically, the language barrier is defined as any linguistic limitation that causes a misunderstanding or prevents a person from fully comprehending a message. Language barriers belong to an umbrella term called “barriers to communication”. 

There are seven known types of barriers to communication, namely: cultural barriers, perceptual barriers, gender barriers, interpersonal barriers, physical barriers, and language barriers. 

For this article, our focus will be on the language barrier, as it directly affects the real time language translation innovation. While you can say that the other barriers can affect communication on the internet, none of them directly affect the  real time language translation innovation and must be solved some other way.

Experts identify five types of language barriers, which are: spoken language and dialects, technical languages, language disabilities, written communications, and company-specific languages. 

What mostly affects communication on the internet and various social media platforms are spoken language and dialects. This is especially because different social media platforms have made it easy for people of different communities and nations to meet and talk to each other.

This phenomenon has existed even before the internet came to be. But, it has become more rampant and identifiable now because, as mentioned previously, information travels in as fast (or possibly even faster) as the blink of an eye. People who like the same things but don’t have a common language they can speak are discouraged from speaking to one another.

Even if English – the most widely spoken language in the world with an estimate of 1.5 billion speakers – is used by both speakers, the regional differences in the way it is taught creates a discord. This often creates a misunderstanding, with one or both of either parties feeling ashamed if a mistake is pointed out. This further discourages them from communicating with each other.

However, since long ago, there have been bridges that break down these language barriers, and they are known as professional translators. These translators offer services that help people communicate with each other, making it easier for people to communicate with each other. 

But since the professionalization of the ability to translate from one language to another, the field has evolved massively, which is why we deem it important to give you a short but concise overview of the evolving field.

What Are Translation Services?

Before we define translation service, it is important to break down the term into simpler and more digestible words. 

Translation is defined as an act or process of translating, specifically rendering one language into another. 

Services, on the other hand, is defined as a labor that doesn’t produce a concrete commodity or product. Put together, translation services are simply services that help people convert one language into another.

In the context of this article specifically, translation services are services that convert written text from one language to a more understandable one. 

This has been differentiated from interpretation by defining the latter as the act of rendering a spoken language into another almost immediately. If you’re still confused between the two, just think of the third person – often the one in the middle – in interviews speaking to both the interviewer and interviewee. 

Translation has a long-spanning history, with the earliest records coming from the Mesopotamian era. 

One of the most remarkable works of translation is the Christian Bible, which has been translated from Hebrew to Greek, Latin, and eventually English. These days, there are still copies of the Christian Bible you can obtain in different languages depending on where the region or country you are buying it from.

Translation has since then evolved, and one of the inventions that has boosted its change is the printing press. Due to the printing press, a standard language eventually started evolving. Whereas translators then would convert the text from one language into another depending on their knowledge, the printing press forced communities and cultures to create a specific translation of words. 

This not only standardized most languages, but also helped in the translation and creation of books and various texts much faster. One could even say that the increasing speed, availability, and accessibility of information started from the creation of the printing press. However, the printing press and modern forms of text can still have inaccuracies, which is why translation services are needed. 

Translation services are provided by professionals, who are commonly known as translators. 

Professional translators have standards to meet, but first and foremost is that they should be able to convert text from one or more foreign languages into their native language. A great example for this is the translators working for media entertainment companies, as they have to translate movie or series dialogues into their native language.

But, since the dawn of the internet and mechanized labor, translation as a profession and field has also changed. Now, computers are able to translate text from one language into another, and almost instantly at that. This is what’s known as machine translation, but more specifically as the real time language translation innovation.

Machine Translation

Machine translation is defined as the process of automatically translating content from a source language to the target language without any human input. 

This means that every conversion of one word from a language to another is done entirely by a computer itself, and no other humans alter the translations. This is actually pretty common, and there is one free software that a lot of people use.

This software is known as Google translate, a product owned and run by the Google company. On this software, anyone can translate their native language, or any source language for that matter, to a different or target language. People who speak Mandarin can have their text translated to English, Filipino, Spanish, and many more. All they have to do is select the languages and input their text.

However, the problem here lies in the fact that there is no human touch to the translation. While this produces a verbatim translation, grammar and cultural backgrounds are completely ignored. This can still lead to different misunderstandings, most often ridicule about the fact that the grammar and syntax used in a language has been completely ignored. 

Recent innovations have sought to solve this problem, and one such solution is powered by artificial intelligence systems. Because of this innovation, people can talk to one another without having to worry about a misunderstanding, as the artificial intelligence system is used to help incorporate cultural background, context, and other important factors into the translation that machine translation alone cannot do.

This innovation is none other than real time language translation innovation, an innovation that has brought down language barriers and has helped people form friendships. Now, you can easily go to a country and not have to worry about knowing its native language, as the real time language translation innovation will help you speak to other people in their native language. 

Real Time Language Translation Innovation

The real time language translation innovation is basically a technology that helps anyone convert one language into another instantly, which is why it is called “real-time”. The latest artificial intelligence systems used by neural machine translation platforms allows people coming from different nations speaking different languages to converse with reduced delays in communication and greater accuracy, massively changing the way we communicate to others.

Real time language translation innovation wasn’t always as great as it is now. In its more primitive forms, real time language translation innovation worked by a computer transcribing speech it recorded into text, and then translating that text into the target language. If you think about it, it’s just like writing your own text into a translation software and then just pressing the read button so it reads the translated text out loud. 

However, that system has long been considered inefficient, which is why the real time language translation innovation has used more advanced technology like artificial intelligence to improve the service. Thanks to artificial intelligence, speech translation is much faster and even more accurate, making the “real-time” in real time language translation innovation more truthful.

However, not only does artificial intelligence reduce the time it takes to translate speech from a source language to a target language, but it also lessens misunderstandings by being more accurate in a sense. 

Unlike its primitive form, real time language translation innovation uses artificial intelligence to accurately pick up sound and derive words from that sound, convert it into the target language, and incorporate cultural differences into the speech translation.

 This way, when the translated text is being read, it no longer sounds monotonous and robotic, but like it is actually being read by someone who speaks the language. Artificial intelligence uses its capability to “learn” and understand patterns to add that touch to its end product or translation. This makes communicating between people much easier, and possibly even encouraging thanks to the technology.

Where to Find It (Who Uses It?)

Now the remaining question lies on where we, the common people, can find this kind of technology. What kind of price do we have to pay in order to be able to use this tech? Is it made only for the rich and those capable enough to spend money and travel to various parts of the world, or can even the common people acquire this technology?

Much to many people’s surprise and joy, real time language translation innovation is being used by all the giant tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and even Amazon.

All these companies have specific products that anyone can use – some of which may need to spend money on – to translate their texts and speeches in real time. These products and services can be availed with just a search, and they all can make use of the innovation in their own creative ways.

Thus, it isn’t too hard to find the innovation, especially if you’re already using a phone or computer with an operating software that belongs to a tech giant like Apple, Google, Microsoft, or even Amazon. Quite a lot of tech giants have used the innovations in their own ways to make products that suit the needs of different people in different times and places.

Pros

Now let’s get into the advantages – and soon the disadvantages – of the newest translation innovation. Much like any other product or service, the technology has its own advantages and disadvantages, and we’ll go over some of them right now. 

One of the biggest advantages that the innovation has over other translation methods is that it is much faster. Translation occurs in just seconds – not even minutes! As compared to other forms of translation, it is by far the fastest form of translation that creates an environment for seamless communication. 

Another advantage that the innovation has is that it helps people communicate with each other much easier. There are less misunderstandings between two people communicating because grammar and syntax has been taken into consideration thanks to the artificial intelligence systems the neural translation machines use. 

Lastly, one advantage when it comes to the tech is that it promotes communication between people. Now, people are less scared to approach a native speaker of the target language because of the innovation. All they have to do is speak into a machine and they can already have their speech translated and read into the target language that the native speaker can understand completely.

Cons

One of the biggest disadvantages of the real time language translation innovation is that it is still learning, and because it is, it is not as accurate as many wish it would be. 

There are still many grammatical rules that artificial intelligence systems have to learn to be able to really translate text to how it should be read in the target language; in other words, it still has a long way to go before it can serve as an interpreter between two people.

Another disadvantage of the technology is that it relies heavily on sound. This means that it can still misinterpret a sound and create a phrase that is entirely different from the message the speaker intends to deliver. There can also be missing words that can cause trouble when the innovation tries to make up for its misinterpretation by itself. 

Conclusion

There are many innovations in the world that seek to provide more comfort for people around the world. One such innovation is the real time language translation innovation that seeks to create a comfortable environment for communication. It is a great way to break down language barriers and create a world where anyone can speak to anyone without worrying about misunderstandings.

However, it still has a long way to go before it can achieve that goal. For now, we can only enjoy its service as an aid to our journey in life, especially when we choose to journey in distant lands. With this innovation, we will soon be able to see a world where truly there are no borders, where people from different cultures speaking different languages can mix and mingle without any confusion. All we have to do is wait!