Google Says Its New AI-Powered Translation Tool Scores Nearly Identically to Human Translators

Starting today, Google will rely more heavily on artificial intelligence when it translates language. The new method, called Google Machine Neural Translation, cuts down errors by 80 percent compared to its current algorithm, and is nearly indistinguishable from human translation on standardized tests, the company said. It's a radical change from how Google translates now, which is called phrase-based translation, and is standard for the industry. Under this method, an algorithm cuts up a sentence, like one entered by a high-schooler trying to game their homework, and attempts to match words or phrases to a large dictionary. The new method takes that same large dictionary and uses it to train two neural networks.