limits.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
# Licensed under the MIT License.
# Author: Graham.Williams@togaware.com
#
# This demo is based on the Azure Cognitive Services Translator Quick Starts
# 
# https://github.com/MicrosoftTranslator/Text-Translation-API-V3-Python
#

print("""===========================
Limitations of Translations
===========================

Douglas Hofstadter, a professor of cognitive science and comparative
literature at Indiana University at Bloomington and author of the book
Gödel, Escher, Bach, highlights in a January 2018 article in The
Atlantic the limitations of automated language translation. To
paraphrase, the translators do not have any deep understanding of the
text but have developed a shallower mechanical process to do a decent job
for simple communications.

Below we illustrate the issue with one of Hofstadter's examples. See the
original article for details:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/01/the-shallowness-of-google-translate/551570/

The original article demonstrated the issue using Google Translator. We
demonstrate using Azure Translator.
""")

# Import the required libraries.

import sys
import os
import requests
import uuid
import json

from textwrap import fill
from mlhub.pkg import azkey

# Defaults.

SERVICE = "Text Translator"
KEY_FILE  = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "private.txt")

live = True

# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
# Request subscription key and endpoint from user.
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------

key, endpoint = azkey(KEY_FILE, SERVICE, verbose=False, baseurl=True)

# Build the REST API URLs.

path     = '/translate?api-version=3.0'
translate_url = endpoint + path

path = '/languages?api-version=3.0'
languages_url = endpoint + path

headers  = {
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': key,
    'Content-type': 'application/json',
    'X-ClientTraceId': str(uuid.uuid4())
}  

sys.stdout.write("""
Press Enter to continue on to the example: """)
answer = input()

print("""
*** The sample text is:
""")

hof_or = [{'text': """In their house, everything comes in pairs. There's his car
and her car, his towels and her towels, and his library and hers."""}]

sys.stdout.write(fill(hof_or[0]['text']))

sys.stdout.write("""

*** The French translation is:

""")

if live:
    params   = '&to=fr'
    request = requests.post(translate_url + params, headers=headers, json=hof_or)
    hof_fr = request.json()

sys.stdout.write(fill(hof_fr[0]['translations'][0]['text']))

sys.stdout.write("""

*** Translating back to English demonstrates a shallow understanding:

""")

if live:
    params   = '&to=en'
    request = requests.post(translate_url + params, headers=headers, json=hof_fr[0]['translations'])
    hof_en = request.json()

sys.stdout.write(fill(hof_en[0]['translations'][0]['text']))
print()

# Google had: 
#
#     Dans leur maison, tout vient en paires. Il y a sa voiture et sa
#     voiture, ses serviettes et ses serviettes, sa bibliothèque et
#     les siennes.
#
#     Then
#
#     At home, they have everything in double. There is his own car
#     and his own car, his own towels and his own towels, his own
#     library and his own library.