Machine Translation Technology: A Potential Key to the Information Age. Report of the FCCSET Committee on Industry and Technology.

Machine translation (MT), an emerging technology that enables text to be translated from one language to another by computer, represents an indispensable contribution to the sharing of technical information particularly since nearly half of the world's scientific and technological literature is written in languages other than English. The state of the art and its potential are discussed. No existing MT system appears capable of producing polished translations without some human involvement, but current systems can yield definite benefits in improved productivity in certain situations. The United States is strong in research on natural language processing, but faces the challenge of converting its research potential and knowledge into commercial operating systems. Japan, where 14 commercially viable systems have been developed, is far ahead in this area. The U.S. Federal Government has a demonstrable need for foreign-language information and should consider devising polices and strategies to become a world leader in MT. The government could be a catalyst for MT research by encouraging the involvement of U.S. industries in developing and commercializing products and services. Three figures illustrate the discussion. Appendix A lists members of a working group on MT. Appendix B lists 77 annotated selected sources on MT. (Contains 20 references.) (SLD)