How Google translates without understanding

How Google translates without understanding
 

This is just a link to an article called "How Google translates without understanding" It's an interesting discussion, but I think a real machine translation that works is still a *long* way off.

I read an article how the army is planning to create a headset that makes it possible to speak in English, and then it translates on the fly to any language and speaks it in that language automatically. I don't know how it works tho.

That doesn´t seem very possible to me, with currently available technology.

They don't have to make it translate always in proper grammar, just communicate the idea effectively. I rather think technology will adapt to that quite well.

Good point. If you just say the two words "need" "doctor" instead of "I need a doctor please", you'll still be understood.

That reminds me of a joke

A the biker crashes, and laying in tangled agony he moans to the hippie on the roadside, "Call me an ambulance man, call me an ambulance."
and the hippie says, "ok man, ok, You are an ambulance."

So.. there could possibly be a breakdown in communication, I'll admit that.

Thanks for the joke, you made me smile. :)