Othman Adel Al -Abbasi
In the early days of the war in Ukraine, I suddenly found myself in Kiev. All I wanted to quickly reach the train station to leave the city. At that time, I relied totally on the application of a traditional translation that I used to and documented. But this confidence was dispersed quickly when I found myself standing in front of an old Ukrainian man, I try to ask him about the train station with words translated by the application with a wonderful confidence into a completely different meaning. I will not forget the looks of the man who seemed as if I asked him for a nuclear secret, not a path towards the station!
This position – although it seems comedy now – made me think a lot about the nature of the translation applications that we use daily. They are useful applications, of course, but they still deal with texts in the same way as the old Bahrain schools when “Al -Mutawa” was repeating the sentences and words. Despite the great value of this traditional method of preserving, controlling the language and producing generations that we are proud of, it was focusing on the accuracy of the text more than realizing the true meaning.
But the world has changed, and the time is developing at an amazing speed. From a black plate and chalk in “Katatib” to a smart electronic blackboard in modern Bahrain schools, we moved from the stage of preserving the texts to their understanding and interacting with them deeply. The technology is also caused by this knees, and today we have a very smart translator based on artificial intelligence techniques such as GPT, not only translates words, but also absorbs the context, and reads between the lines.
This type of translation is closer to a Bahraini friend sitting next to you, and translates what is going on around you in his fun style. He does not translate the phrase “How are you, so and so?” To “What color, so -and -so?” Rather, he understands directly that you ask about the situation, not the color, and transfer your conversation to the other side clearly and in a light spirit, away from any misunderstanding or embarrassment.
Yes, here lies the clear difference. This artificial intelligence provides us with a vibrant translation, touches the social and cultural reality, and transmits our thoughts and feelings clearly without causing small wars or embarrassing situations between us and others.
Today we are in Bahrain a golden opportunity to benefit from this technology more than just a personal application that we use while traveling or chatting. Bahrain is a global cultural and tourist center that attracts visitors from all over the land. What if we use smart translation to provide integrated tourism experiences in the original visitors? Imagine a visitor entering the Bahrain National Museum, wandering in the Bab Al -Bahrain market, or enjoying authentic Bahraini dishes in a traditional restaurant, so the experience lives in all its details, without feeling alienated even for one moment!
Rather, we can go further, and we use this technique to improve communication with groups of society that we are difficult for us to understand at times, such as the simple foreign factor or the uneducated person, so everyone gets their rights, the messages arrive more clearly, and they feel that they are an effective part of society’s fabric.
As we moved from the time of wooden panels to the era of smart e -learning, I firmly believe that the future will carry us greater developments in the world of translation, making our communication with others more humane, smooth and clear. And until that day comes, let’s enjoy the smart translator who is in our hands now, it is truly worthy of gratitude.
* Technical expert
