In Spanish, there are at least a dozen ways to say someone has the flu -- depending on the country. Translating "cardiac arrest" into Spanish is also tricky because "arresto" means getting detained by the police. Likewise, "intoxicado" means you have food poisoning, not that you're drunk. The examples of how translation could go awry in any language are endless: Words take on new meanings, idioms come and go, and communities adopt slang and dialects for everyday life. Human translators work hard to keep up with the changes, but California plans to soon entrust that responsibility to technology. State health policy officials want to harness emerging artificial intelligence technology to translate a broad swath of documents and websites related to "health and social services information, programs, benefits and services," according to state records.

If you'll recall, Google had to fit its prototype cars with temporary steering wheels and controls just so it could launch its trial in the Golden State. The proposed rules will give Mountain View a way to find out how its vehicles will perform when they're used the way they're intended. Eric Noble, president of automotive consulting firm The CarLab, told Bloomberg that the changes are "necessary and timely" if California wants to "keep that level of development activity." They could prevent Michigan, which made autonomous vehicle trials without human drivers and physical controls legal in December, from becoming the new go-to state. "[California] kind of had to do it because at some point manufacturers can't move autonomous vehicles forward without getting controls out of cars," Noble added.