Computers Unable To Write, U.S. Decides

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31248, 21 December 1966, Page 12

Computers Unable To Write, U.S. Decides

CN.Z.P.A.-Reuter;

WASHINGTON.

Computers with electronic brains can do many things, but apparently they cannot write.

It took 19,000,000 dollars (about £6,780, 000) in cash, and the efforts of the United States Defence Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Academy of Sciences to give the computer a failing mark in English prose.

For the last 10 years, a Government committee has been trying to teach a machine to translate technical texts from one language to another. Its chief aim was to translate from Russian into English so that scientists and intelligence agents could keep up with Soviet accomp-

lishments and perhaps learn a military secret or two without running the usual cloak-and-dagger risks. But -the eflfort failed, and the committee’s report explained why. The machine’s prose read like the following example from a translation of a Russian article on space research: “The flies of drosophila, vegetable objects, semena of higher plants (wheat, GOROX, LUK, a pine tree, BOBY, REDIS, a carrot and others), MIKROSPORY of TRADES KANQII tlje culture of. . . .”

Another computer, which tried to give scientists a choice of words, came up with this:

“Thus, the consideration/ investigation certain I some from/of prindpal/basic radiobiological problems shows/ indicates/points displays, that in the given region/area still/ yet / more / back / some more very many/very much unsolved questions.” A third was just as baffling: “However is base to trust that jointly scientists of different specialities of

various countries of world/ peace radiobiological investigations in outer space will be successfully continued and expanded.” The committee’s conclusion was that the product of computer translation required retranslation into English—and the process took as long as translation by human beings from the original.

Its advice to scientists and spies was, in effect, “learn Russian.”