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Notes by Axbom
Per Axbom Akkoma

I write a lot of bilingual content and often use Google Translate to help me out. I'm blown away by how seriously bad it still is after all these years.

Rarely can I use a sentence directly from a Google translation.

Just now when translating from English a paragraph starting with "Bad actors with nefarious intent..." it opted for the Swedish word for stage/film actor.

It's great for laughs though.

For you Swedish speakers:
"Dåliga skådespelare med ondskefulla avsikter ges enorma befogenheter att orsaka förödelse med skadlig programvara och bedrägeri, men också att uppfinna kemiska vapen."

Another favorite added to my records:

"This truly feels like a red herring." became "Det här känns verkligen som en röd sill."

i.e. a literal translation. It's funny because of how Swedes do love pickled herring.

But it's extra funny because of the context of that sentence. I am talking about that open letter on the AI pause and why they chose 6 months as their baseline. So the red herring relates to my take that we are pretty far from sentience and 6 months is a red herring.

(For Swedes unfamiliar with the phrase, a better translation would be "villospår")

🔗 Originally posted on Akkoma

4 Apr 2023, 10:23
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