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   Sunday January 13 2019
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The literary touch is lost in computer translation

   Catherine Sanz, Ireland Reporter

   October 31 2018, 12:01am, The Times
     * Education
     * Dublin

   Translators said that the progress of machine translation had been
   frightening
   Translators said that the progress of machine translation had been
   frighteningGETTY IMAGES

   Machines cannot match humans when it comes to translating literary
   texts, a study has found.

   Researchers at Dublin City University interviewed six translators on
   their methods. All said they preferred to start from scratch rather
   than use machine translation by an algorithm.

   A recent paper from DCU found that it could be useful in the
   translation of novels between related languages. Translators said that
   it was frightening to see how accurate it had become.

   The researchers for the new study said translators felt
   machine-translated text limited their creativity and conditioned them
   to produce a literal translation, not one more stylistically faithful.

   The translators provided feedback before and after a translation of
   Warbreaker, a fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson, chosen because it was
   deemed challenging. The…
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     * Education
     * Dublin

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