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I'm thinking about how this technology will improve medical practice (to take one small example). Taking care of a psychiatrically ill patient who doesn't speak your language is difficult. Human translators are great when you can get them but it is an imperfect system, especially when the patient speaks an uncommon language. Having instant translators like this in our pockets will change the game.

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May 18, 2023Liked by Age of Infovores

American here. In Tokyo in 2018 our English-only group was assigned a Japanese technical translator to help us navigate meetings, etc.

Very competent and sociable guy. One of my smart-alec colleagues opened Google audio translate for English-to-Japanese. Said some things and pressed the translate button.

After hearing the result, the translator was crestfallen. "I have to get another job."

Are we re-entering the time of Babel?

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