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How accurate is google translate?

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ServantOfTheGoddess · 61-69, M
It's become really very good for many purposes in [i]some[/i] languages, for example French/English. The AI technology involved is advanced to the point of being scary (if you ask me). I often use it to double-check what I want to say in French, which is a language I know quite well.

On the other hand, even with those languages, you can't rely on it; for example, it doesn't magically know whether a person you are writing to should be addressed as "tu" (familiar form of "you") or "vous" (more formal form).

It also is not great for very brief texts without context, or, on the other hand, for passages from serious literature.

It also will not help much if you are translating into your own language from somebody else's slangy "textspeak" with lots of non-standard spellings.

All that is for a language it "knows" well. For many other languages, I guess because the AI doesn't have as much experience or material to work with, it can still be useful but also makes bad mistakes, especially with idioms.

So, google translate is one of the tools available, and a pretty great one all things considered, but it won't solve all our translation needs.

(Also, don't use it for language homework -- that would be cheating, unless you have the teacher's explicit permission!)
iamnikki · 31-35, F
@ServantOfTheGoddess thank you. Not sure why you'd assume I have homework given my age. But thanks
ServantOfTheGoddess · 61-69, M
@iamnikki Lots of graduate students are your age. But I wasn't assuming it, so much as adding a caution for any students who might be reading the thread.