[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.68,0:00:11.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How is it that so many \Nintergalactic species in movies and TV
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.31,0:00:14.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just happen to speak perfect English?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.48,0:00:17.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The short answer is that no one\Nwants to watch a starship crew
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.89,0:00:21.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spend years compiling an alien dictionary.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.77,0:00:23.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to keep things consistent,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.39,0:00:26.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the creators of Star Trek\Nand other science-fiction worlds
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.79,0:00:30.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have introduced the concept\Nof a universal translator,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.51,0:00:35.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a portable device that can instantly\Ntranslate between any languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.01,0:00:38.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So is a universal translator \Npossiblein real life?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.54,0:00:42.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We already have many programs\Nthat claim to do just that,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.14,0:00:45.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,taking a word, sentence, \Nor entire book in one language
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.95,0:00:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and translating it into almost any other,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.00,0:00:52.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether it's modern English\Nor Ancient Sanskrit.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.34,0:00:55.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if translation were just a matter\Nof looking up words in a dictionary,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.91,0:00:59.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these programs would run circles\Naround humans.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.82,0:01:03.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The reality, however, \Nis a bit more complicated.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.30,0:01:07.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A rule-based translation program\Nuses a lexical database,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.35,0:01:10.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which includes all the words \Nyou'd find in a dictionary
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.30,0:01:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all grammatical forms they can take,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.28,0:01:18.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and set of rules to recognize the basic\Nlinguistic elements in the input language.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.92,0:01:22.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For a seemingly simple sentence like,\N"The children eat the muffins,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.40,0:01:27.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the program first parses its syntax,\Nor grammatical structure,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.05,0:01:29.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by identifying the children \Nas the subject,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.59,0:01:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the rest of the sentence \Nas the predicate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.32,0:01:34.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consisting of a verb, "eat,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.37,0:01:37.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a direct object, "the muffins."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.42,0:01:40.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It then needs to recognize\NEnglish morphology,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.25,0:01:44.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or how the language can be broken down\Ninto its smallest meaningful units,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.68,0:01:46.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as the word, "muffin,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.12,0:01:49.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the suffix, "s," \Nused to indicate plural.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.76,0:01:52.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Finally, it needs to understand \Nthe semantics,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.45,0:01:56.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what the different parts of the sentence\Nactually mean.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.18,0:01:58.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To translate this sentence properly,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.07,0:02:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the program would refer to a different set\Nof vocabulary and rules
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.98,0:02:05.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for each element of the target language.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.17,0:02:07.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this is where it gets tricky.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.02,0:02:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The syntax of some languages\Nallows words to be arranged in any order,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.82,0:02:16.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while in others, doing so could make\Nthe muffin eat the child.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.95,0:02:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Morphology can also pose a problem.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.65,0:02:23.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Slovenian distinguishes between\Ntwo children and three or more
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.24,0:02:27.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using a dual suffix absent \Nin many other languages,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.10,0:02:30.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while Russian's lack of definite articles\Nmight leave you wondering
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.53,0:02:33.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether the children are eating \Nsome particular muffins,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.58,0:02:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or just eat muffins in general.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.72,0:02:39.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Finally, even when the semantics\Nare technically correct,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.71,0:02:42.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the program might miss their finer points,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.76,0:02:45.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as if the children \N"mangiano" the muffins,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.81,0:02:47.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or "divorano" them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.79,0:02:51.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another method is \Nstatistical machine translation,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.56,0:02:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which analyzes a database \Nof books, articles and documents
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.76,0:02:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that have already \Nbeen translated by humans.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.49,0:03:02.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By finding matches between source\Nand translated text
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.96,0:03:05.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are unlikely to occur by chance,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.39,0:03:09.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the program can identify corresponding\Nphrases and patterns,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.34,0:03:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and use them for future translations.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.43,0:03:14.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,However, the quality \Nof this type of translation
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.97,0:03:17.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,depends on the size \Nof the initial database,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.69,0:03:21.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the availability of samples \Nfor certain languages
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.36,0:03:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or styles of writing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.38,0:03:27.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The difficulty that computers have\Nwith the exceptions, irregularities
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.14,0:03:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and shades of meaning\Nthat seem to come instinctively to humans
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.99,0:03:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has led some researchers to believe\Nthat our understanding of language
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.04,0:03:39.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a unique product \Nof our biological brain structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.25,0:03:43.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, one of the most famous\Nfictional universal translators,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.10,0:03:46.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Babel fish from \NThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.44,0:03:49.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not a machine at all,\Nbut a small creature
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.73,0:03:54.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that translates the brain waves\Nand nerve signals of sentient species
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.21,0:03:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through a form of telepathy.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.00,0:03:59.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For now, learning a language\Nthe old fashion way
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.73,0:04:05.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will still give you better results than\Nany currently available computer program.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.11,0:04:06.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But this is no easy task,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.75,0:04:09.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the sheer number \Nof languages in the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.01,0:04:12.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as the increasing interaction\Nbetween the people who speak them,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.99,0:04:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will only continue to spur greater\Nadvances in automatic translation.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.00,0:04:21.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps by the time we encounter\Nintergalactic life forms,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.41,0:04:24.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we'll be able to communicate with them\Nthrough a tiny gizmo,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.66,0:04:29.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or we might have to start compiling\Nthat dictionary, after all.