Occasionally I research online search term usage to better understand the market for professional Spanish translation services. It seems that users of the major search engines regularly look for online tools that support free Spanish translation to English. Such online and other computer aided tools do exist, though from general observation, they don’t come close to matching the output of skilled human translators. It’s hard to imagine any competent business executive entrusting the current state of translation technology with the intricacies of a sensitive business deal for example (or for that matter even a routine email). Don’t get me wrong, I love technology, though the state of translation technology is not especially encouraging. Even defense budgets, often seemingly immune to real world financial accountability, to my knowledge haven’t made much of a dent in producing practical, viable translation technologies.

Though not exactly translation, voice recognition has some similar challenges. Check out the video linked here for an amusing few minutes of language and technology, courtesy of the guys in Redmond.