Technology and Language: AI Translation vs. Google Translate

[AlexB23]

Hello folks. Digital technology has been improving over the past few decades, and with the recent advances in AI, new use cases for computers have been unlocked. For ages, the go-to app to translating languages was Google Translate, and you needed an internet connection to use it. Nowadays, some AI can be run offline for free. On March 22, 2024, I installed an free and private AI known as Mistral 7B, where the "7B" refers to 7 billion parameters and takes up 4 GB of space on my laptop. It has the capability of translating stuff into French, German and Spanish, albeit not perfectly.

This is a demo showcasing the translation capabilites of artificial intelligence, using the first two sentences of the vacuum cleaner article on Wikipedia.

English passage: "A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses suction in order to remove dirt and other substances from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven."

First, Google Translate.

Google Translate: Ein Staubsauger ist ein Gerät, das mittels Saugwirkung Schmutz und andere Substanzen von Böden, Polstern, Vorhängen und anderen Oberflächen entfernt. Er wird im Allgemeinen elektrisch angetrieben.

Then, the AI installed on my laptop.

Mistral Instruct 7B Q4: "Ein Saugrohr ist ein Gerät, das durch Ansauung dreckige und andere Stoffe von Boden, Polsteredecken, Gardinen und anderen Oberflächen entfernt. Es wird überwiegend elektrisch angetrieben."

I am not German, so I can not comment on the accuracy of these two translations, but if anyone is German here on CF such as @Nithavela , feel free to compare the two. Which wins? A private AI that does not connect to a server, or Google Translate?

 

[Nithavela]

Hello folks. Digital technology has been improving over the past few decades, and with the recent advances in AI, new use cases for computers have been unlocked. For ages, the go-to app to translating languages was Google Translate, and you needed an internet connection to use it. Nowadays, some AI can be run offline for free. On March 22, 2024, I installed an free and private AI known as Mistral 7B, where the "7B" refers to 7 billion parameters and takes up 4 GB of space on my laptop. It has the capability of translating stuff into French, German and Spanish, albeit not perfectly.

This is a demo showcasing the translation capabilites of artificial intelligence, using the first two sentences of the vacuum cleaner article on Wikipedia.

English passage: "A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses suction in order to remove dirt and other substances from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven."

First, Google Translate.


Then, the AI installed on my laptop.


I am not German, so I can not comment on the accuracy of these two translations, but if anyone is German here on CF such as @Nithavela , feel free to compare the two. Which wins? A private AI that does not connect to a server, or Google Translate?

The one on your Laptop has multiple errors. It's not "Polsteredecken" but "Polsterdecken" and "Ansaugung", not "Ansauung" (and nobody would use a word like "Ansaugung", which is the substantivation of the verb "ansaugen"). "Saugrohr" is also not a valid translation of "vaccum cleaner" but means "suction pipe". It mostly looks like it's written by someone who is compensating for some lack of skill in german language with a beer.

Google translation is fine.

 

[AlexB23]

The one on your Laptop has multiple errors. It's not "Polsteredecken" but "Polsterdecken" and "Ansaugung", not "Ansauung" (and nobody would use a word like "Ansaugung". "Saugrohr" is also not a valid translation of "vaccum cleaner" but means "suction pipe". It mostly looks like it's written by someone who is compensating for some lack of skill in german language with a beer.

Google translation is fine.

Wow, the AI on my laptop did kinda suck, just as a vacuum does. Mistral 7B was designed by a French company (Wiki URL) mainly for chatting in English. I am surprised that the AI on a laptop could manage to be on the level of a drunkard. Yeah, Google Translate is far more refined.

 

[Nithavela]

Wow, the AI on my laptop did kinda suck, just as a vacuum does. Mistral 7B was designed by a French company (Wiki URL) mainly for chatting in English. I am surprised that the AI on a laptop could manage to be on the level of a drunkard. Yeah, Google Translate is far more refined.

It actually doesn't look like an AI translation, which as far as I know isn't prone to spelling mistakes.

 

[AlexB23]

It actually doesn't look like an AI translation, which as far as I know isn't prone to spelling mistakes.

It is 100% AI. I tried the translation again, and this is what it spit out, a slightly different translation. It is fun to mess around with artificial intelligence. I hid the name of the AI platform software, cos I do not want to look like I am advertising it (though, the platform is locally run, free and open source. Whoever came up with the platform, I want to shake his or her hand).

 

[Nithavela]

It is 100% AI. I tried the translation again, and this is what it spit out, a slightly different translation. It is fun to mess around with artificial intelligence. I hid the name of the AI platform software, cos I do not want to look like I am advertising it (though, the platform is locally run, free and open source. Whoever came up with the platform, I want to shake his or her hand).

View attachment 345829

"Haussucher" would be the word for someone who is looking for a house.

 

[AlexB23]

"Haussucher" would be the word for someone who is looking for a house.

Haha... Man, this Mistral AI is awful at translating. But, it can write well. I told it to write a law for a fictional country, and it did.

 

[JSRG]

Does Mitral work better with languages other than German?

 

[AlexB23]

Does Mitral work better with languages other than German?

I am not sure, but it can translate Spanish and French poorly. AI is not there yet for translations, as certain nuances are not picked up by artificial intelligence.

English passage: "A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses suction in order to remove dirt and other substances from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven."

Spanish

Mistral Instruct 7B Q4: "Un aspirador es un dispositivo que utiliza soplando para retirar sucias y otras sustancias de pisos, cortinas, almohadillas y otras superficies. Es normalmente impulsado eléctricamente."

French

Mistral Instruct 7B Q4: Un aspirateur est un appareil qui utilise la suction pour retirer la poussière et d'autres substances des planchers, du mobilier, des rideaux et d'autres surfaces. C'est généralement motorisé électriquement.

 

[JSRG]

Thanks! I can't evaluate the French but I know Spanish fairly well, though I'm not fluent. So for easier reference, the English being translated is:

"A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses suction in order to remove dirt and other substances from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven."

And the Spanish translation it ended up with is:

"Un aspirador es un dispositivo que utiliza soplando para retirar sucias y otras sustancias de pisos, cortinas, almohadillas y otras superficies. Es normalmente impulsado eléctricamente.""

I initially thought "aspirador" was wrong and it should be aspiradora, but it does seem like aspirador is an alternate spelling, although it's less common so it's odd that gets used. But the big error I see it "utiliza soplando" for "uses suction". Soplando is the gerund conjugation of the verb soplar... but soplar means to blow! That's literally the opposite of suction. Even if it used the proper verb (succionar), I don't think the gerund form (-ndo) is appropriate here, as I don't think it can be used as a noun; the proper word to use, it seems to me, is succión. I am also dubious about it translating upholstery as cortinas and draperies as almohadillas, but I'd need someone fluent to properly weigh in on that.

So while I can't be sure some of the things I mentioned are errors, I can definitely say that the usage of "soplando" is in error, and actually reverses the meaning.

 

[AlexB23]

Thanks! I can't evaluate the French but I know Spanish fairly well, though I'm not fluent. So for easier reference, the English being translated is:

"A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses suction in order to remove dirt and other substances from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven."

And the Spanish translation it ended up with is:

"Un aspirador es un dispositivo que utiliza soplando para retirar sucias y otras sustancias de pisos, cortinas, almohadillas y otras superficies. Es normalmente impulsado eléctricamente.""

I initially thought "aspirador" was wrong and it should be aspiradora, but it does seem like aspirador is an alternate spelling, although it's less common so it's odd that gets used. But the big error I see it "utiliza soplando" for "uses suction". Soplando is the gerund conjugation of the verb soplar... but soplar means to blow! That's literally the opposite of suction. Even if it used the proper verb (succionar), I don't think the gerund form (-ndo) is appropriate here, as I don't think it can be used as a noun; the proper word to use, it seems to me, is succión. I am also dubious about it translating upholstery as cortinas and draperies as almohadillas, but I'd need someone fluent to properly weigh in on that.

So while I can't be sure some of the things I mentioned are errors, I can definitely say that the usage of "soplando" is in error, and actually reverses the meaning.

Agreed. I seems that AI is not there yet, or at least the AI that I run locally on my laptop. In the future, when my laptop gets old, I'll get a beefier one which could run a larger AI model.