Machine translation in context

Abstract

The Controlled Automotive Service Language project at General Motors is combining machine translation (MT) with a variety of other language technologies into an existing translation environment. In keeping with the theme of this conference, this report elaborates on the elements of this mixture, and how they are being blended together to form a coordinated whole. The primary concept is that machine translation cannot be viewed independently of the context in which it will be used. That entire context must be prepared and managed in order to accommodate MT without undue business risk. Further, until high-quality MT is available in a much wider variety of languages, any MT production application is likely to co-exist with traditional human translation, which requires additional considerations.