Machine translation, AI’s “next big thing” since about 1954, is always good for a laugh. Today’s piece in Der Spiegel about hygiene during vacations, when processed by babelfish, contains some insightful turns of phrase:
- The introduction describes Howard Hughes as a man who “suffered from wash obligation.” I can’t help but wonder if the article’s author, “Evelyn Striking Stone” according to the fish, was sitting near me on my recent trip to the land of asparagus and pop music. I mean, that’s me all over.
- With childlike honesty and a simplicity that is rarely found in print journalism, the translated article pinpoints the core of the human condition, and especially the core condition of humans who travel: “you are rather an aesthetic problem.”
Bravo, M.T.!
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posted to channel: Travel
updated: 2005-07-21 00:27:54
