Over the past decade, I’ve hopped into large airplanes to go on grand expeditions throughout the globe. I’ve landed in locations like Japan and Africa, and I nonetheless take delight in setting foot within the sorts of locales I used to solely watch on the Journey Channel.
Throughout my stays, I’ve at all times tried my greatest to talk with welcoming locals, and it nonetheless amazes me how Google Translate can flip my English into clear Japanese or Swahili in seconds.
The outcomes weren’t precisely stunning, they usually made it clear considered one of these instruments nonetheless has some catching as much as do..
1. Text translation
I’ve messed around with ChatGPT plenty of times by asking it to translate friendly greetings. Now that ChatGPT Translate is officially out in the wild, I wanted to see if it delivers the same useful results.
I booted up the desktop version and kept the theme simple: stay cordial. I asked it to translate: “I hope we can hang out again. I had a good time going out with you” into Spanish.
ChatGPT Translate only took a second or two to turn my English into: “Espero que podamos volver a pasar tiempo juntos. Me lo pasé muy bien saliendo contigo.” And to its credit, it didn’t stop there. It also offered alternate versions depending on the vibe you’re going for.
When I switched the tone to something more business formal, it gave me: “Espero que podamos vernos nuevamente. Disfruté mucho salir con usted.”
The translation popped up after it kicked me back to the main ChatGPT page, where it also explained why it chose certain words to make the sentence sound more polished:
- “vernos nuevamente” conveys “hang out again” in a polite, formal way
- “usted” keeps the tone respectful
- “disfruté mucho” expresses that you had a good time politely
I was impressed with how ChatGPT Translate gave me a clear understanding of how it modified my English-to-Spanish translation to make it come out with a more respectful tone.
The one issue that arose (that gives Google Translate the upper hand) is that ChatGPT Translate only has 50+ languages to communicate with, as opposed to Google’s translation tool offering way more, with 243 languages.
Google Translate keeps it real simple—select your translated language, type in your phrase and it goes to work to produce results in seconds.
Winner: ChatGPT Translate.
At the end of this first experiment, ChatGPT Translate came out on top since it showcases four different methods that can flip whatever you say to make it sound more business formal or easily explainable to a class full of young students.
2. Vocal translation
Even though ChatGPT Translate says it also lets users translate via spoken words, you have to resort to using ChatGPT Voice to sort out that activity. Pulling it up on cell units works loads higher in that regard, but it surely pales compared to how a lot simpler it’s to have your vocal phrases translated by means of the Google Translate app.
The app has the mic button able to go as quickly as you open it, versus ChatGPT Translate not having that choice available through cell or desktop.
I even have at hand it to Google’s translation device since its “Stay Translate” mode simply permits for reside conversations to be carried out along with your cellphone in-hand.
Winner: Google Translate.
Google Translate will get the win right here because it doesn’t push you to entry a associate app to deal with your vocal translation.
3. Image, document and website translation
At the time of this writing, ChatGPT doesn’t give you an image or document upload option through its dialogue box, even though it clearly states it can handle either of those assignments.
Not only does Google Translate easily accomplish those tasks, but it also lets its users paste in sites in other languages that can then be translated into the native tongue of their choice.
I used that neat trick to quickly translate Japanese gaming website Famitsu’s front page into English.
Winner: Google Translate.
Once again, Google Translate takes the win as it can translate more than just written expressions and spoken dialogue. Fingers crossed that ChatGPT’s advertised features (that sadly don’t exist yet…) get added in the near future.
Overall winner: Google Translate
It didn’t come as much of a surprise to see that Google Translate reigns supreme over ChatGPT’s new foray into translation software. While ChatGPT Translate’s ability to change your translated sentences according to certain social cues, Google Translate simply offers more languages to tinker with, plus the power to interpret images, documents, and websites in other dialects.
ChatGPT Translate can easily rise above its competitors with a few updates inspired by everything Google Translate has to offer. Your move, Sam Altman.
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