$¬\w000600¬¬\qTimes New Roman\q¬¬\ä000001¬In the comic science fiction novel by Douglas Adams, ¬\I¬The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy¬\I¬, the main character, Arthur Dent, comes upon an unusual sight in the hold of a spaceship.
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$He discovers a dispenser for Babel fish.
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$These fish are inserted in the ear, and they allow the instantaneous comprehension of foreign languages.
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$The Babel Fish are the biological version of the universal translators that appear in many science fiction films.
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$The universal translators in science fiction are usually a plot device.
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$The author avoids the problem, that a character in a television show would confront many alien languages during each episode.
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$Nevertheless, these universal translators represent a real hope.
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$In the future, machine translation could possibly topple the dangerous barriers to knowledge and communication that languages cause.
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$
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$ There are several conflicting opinions about the possible success of machine translation.
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$Many people believe that machine translation will not be able to achieve the goal of automatic translation of every language.
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$Machine translation is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI).
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$Therefore, people who believe that computers will not be able to think like human beings, also do not believe in machine translation.
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$Others believe that artificial intelligence is possible in the same way that artificial flight is possible:
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$an airplane does not fly like a bird, but it flies.
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$In the same way, a computer does not need to think like a human; it can achieve the same results.
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$Still others believe that computers will eventually be able to perform all the mental tasks that we now consider exclusively human tasks.
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$
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$In the present, machine translation is making slow progress toward the day when everyone will be able to understand each other.
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$This goal is extremely important in the modern world.
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$Global communications and world-wide commerce require communication in many different languages for governments, businesses and scientific institutions.
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$They need speed and accuracy in the translation of a great number of important documents.
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$It is believed by some historians that wars have often started because leaders have not communicated.
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$In the Bible, God punishes human beings.
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$He destroys the tower of Babel and He multiplies the number of languages.
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$Some ancient philosophers discovered that the inability of nations to understand each other was a cause of grave problems.
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$Since the biblical era, these problems have troubled humanity.
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$If machine translation would solve these problems, everyone would have a better life.
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$Perhaps machine translation will become the "Babel fish" for the modern world.
