There are some tasks that machines just cannot do. Take translating documents, for instance.
I was playing around on an on-line translation tool (http://babelfish.altavista.com) to see how it would work. Here's what happened when I tried to translate and then re-translate a simple phrase.
Original Phrase
Once upon a time in a kingdom by the sea there lived an old man named Frank.
English to French back to English
Il était une fois dans un royaume par la mer là a vécu un vieil homme appelé Frank.
It was once in a kingdom by the sea there lived an old man called Frank.
English to French to Spanish to English
Il était une fois dans un royaume par la mer là a vécu un vieil homme appelé Frank.
I was playing around on an on-line translation tool (http://babelfish.altavista.com) to see how it would work. Here's what happened when I tried to translate and then re-translate a simple phrase.
Original Phrase
Once upon a time in a kingdom by the sea there lived an old man named Frank.
English to French back to English
Il était une fois dans un royaume par la mer là a vécu un vieil homme appelé Frank.
It was once in a kingdom by the sea there lived an old man called Frank.
English to French to Spanish to English
Il était une fois dans un royaume par la mer là a vécu un vieil homme appelé Frank.
Érase una vez en un reino por el mar allí vivió un viejo hombre llamado Frank.
Érase once in a kingdom by the sea lived an old called man there Frank.
English to Greek back to English
Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό σε ένα βασίλειο θαλασσίως έζησε ένας ηληκιωμένος που ονομάστηκε το Frank.
A time and a time in a kingdom marinely e'zise a ilikjwme'nos that was named Frank.
I cannot say whether or not the initial translations from English are acceptable, but I can say that the end product makes no sense. Having said that, I suppose that the program is only living up to its name -- the results are reminiscent of the story of Babel.
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