Machine Translation: A Cautionary Tale

Recently, whilst surfing the web, I ran across my hometown's official website, which boasts a redundantly-named "language translation" option for non-English-speaking visitors to the site. Having already spent so much money putting together a very nicely designed site, my city apparently decided that they could save a bit of money by foregoing the costs involved with hiring professional translators to translate their web content into German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese (simplified), Korean, and Russian.

Thus, my fiscally conscious municipal government decided to make use of SYSTRAN's machine translation software. It couldn't be simpler - curious non-English-speaking visitors would just need to click on the flag representing their native language and they would be presented with a real-time translation of the page of their choice. Just in case this plan did not prove as simple in practice as it was in someone's PowerPoint presentation, someone in the City Solicitor's office drafted the following disclaimer:

The information on the City of Cincinnati's web site is originally published in English. Sections of the web site offer Systran machine translation software that allows for real-time translation of information into French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Russian. Translations from English may not always be accurate or precise. The City of Cincinnati does not warrant such translations and disclaims any responsibility, including all alleged direct and consequential damages, for inaccurate translations. Readers relying on precise information should check the original English versions.

Thus, in the eyes of the City's web design staff, any problems that SYSTRAN's software had in helping the City "think globally and communicate locally" (as SYSTRAN's website claims) would be taken care of by a disclaimer that disclaimed all liability for mistranslations.

In English, anyway...

Machine Translation Meets Legalese

You see, the way the website is set up, users looking for a non-English version of the page click on a small flag icon on the home page. This will bring them to the disclaimer page. Having read the disclaimer and assumed the risks involved in the use of the SYSTRAN software by clicking on "Continue", the City expects to have immunised itself from any potential legal vulnerability. However, the City decided that not even the disclaimers were worth a few hundred dollars in translation fees.

Disclaimers are contractual language. When determining the meaning and effect of contractual language, courts generally look to the "plain meaning" of the language. Thus, let's have a look at the "plain meaning" of the disclaimers that German, French, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese speakers read:

FRENCH: Les traductions de l'anglais peuvent toujours ne pas être précises ou précises. La ville de Cincinnati ne justifie pas de telles traductions et ne dément aucune responsabilité, y compris des dommages directs et consécutifs tout allégués, des traductions imprécises.

WHAT IT REALLY SAYS:
Translations of English can always not be precise or precise. The City of Cicninnati does not justify translations like that, and does not deny any liability, including direct and consecutive damages, totally alleged, of imprecise translation.

GERMAN: Übersetzungen von Englisch können möglicherweise nicht genau oder exakt immer sein. Die Stadt von Cincinnati gewährleistet solche Übersetzungen und dementiert keine Verantwortlichkeit, einschließlich ganz angebliche direkte und Folgeschadenn [sic], für ungenaue Übersetzungen.

WHAT IT REALLY SAYS:
Possibly, translations from English can not always exactly or precisely be (how existential!). The City of Cincinnati guarantees such translations, and disclaims no liability, including totally alleged direct and consequential damages for imprecise translations.

SPANISH: Las traducciones del inglés pueden siempre no ser exactas o exactas. La ciudad de Cincinnati no autoriza tales traducciones y no niega ninguna responsabilidad, incluyendo daños directos y consecuentes todo alegados, de traducciones inexactas.

WHAT IT REALLY SAYS:
Translations of English may always not be exact or exact. The city of Cincinnati does not authorise translations like that, and denies no liability, including direct and consequential damage, all alleged, of inexact translations.

RUSSIAN: Переводы от английской языка не могут всегда быть точны или точны. Город cincinnati (!) не гарантирует такие переводы и disclaims (!!) никакая ответственность, включая совсем alleged (!!!) сразу и логически вытекающие повреждения, для неточных переводов.

WHAT IT REALLY SAYS:
Translations from the English language cannot always be exact or exact. The city of Cincinnati (not transliterated) does not guarantee such translations and does not disclaim (not even translated) any liability, including totally alleged (also not translated) immediately also logically consequent harm for inexact translations.

JAPANESE: 英語からの翻訳は常に正確または精密でないかもしれない。シンシナチ(sic)市はそのような翻訳を保証しないし、不正確な翻訳のための責任を、すべてに疑わしい直接及び間接損害を含んで、放棄しない。

WHAT IT REALLY SAYS:
Translations from English might not always be correct or accurate. The City of Cincinnatchy does not guarantee translations like that, and, for the benefit of inaccurate translations, it does not disclaim liability, including completely dubious direct or indirect damages.

Machine Translation - Taking Your Carefully Chosen Words Straight Through the Looking Glass

The "plain language" of all of these disclaimers - with the exception of the Russian version, in which the key words are left in English - consistently states that the City of Cincinnati does not disclaim any responsibility of any kind for any damage caused by inaccuracies in the machine translations. Non-English speaking users who elect to see the SYSTRAN "translation" of the site are agreeing, by clicking on CONTINUE, that the City of Cincinnati may be held responsible for all damages, including direct or consequential damages, arising out of mistranslations (or perhaps we should call them systranslations). And, since we are talking about translation software that somehow manages to take the words "disclaims any responsibility" and mangles them, consistently in several different languages, into "disclaims no responsibility", the decision to save on translations could have a serious downside. The terms of adhesion contracts - take-it-or-leave it standardised fine-print contracts like this one - must generally be construed against the interests of the person who drafted it, but this just makes it too easy.

Machine Translation - Bridging the Language Barrier, or Just Adding a Moat?

Cincinnati, like cities the world over, wants to make itself attractive to international tourism and business. To this end, it has created a very well-done website with plenty of information, in a very nice layout. How ironic that all of this effort should be counteracted by attempts to internationalise the website in a cut-rate manner! Certainly nothing says "we want to do business with you" like "we, a city of over 300,000, can't be bothered to spend a couple of thousand dollars to provide intelligible translations of our web content."

Cincinnati, this one's on me:

La version originale des informations sur le site web de la vile de Cincinnati était rédigée en anglais. Des parties du site sont fournies du logiciel de traduction automatique de Systran, qui permet la traduction en temps réel du contenu au français, allemand, l'espagnol, le chinois simplifié, le coréen, et le russe. Il peut y avoir des erreurs de traduction dans les traductions de l'anglais. La ville de Cincinnati ne fait aucune garantie quant aux traductions, et n'accepte aucune résponsabilité juridique - pour les dommages-interêts directs voire indirects - résultant des erreurs de traduction. Les lecteurs qui ont besoin des informations précises devraient lire les versions originales.

Die Informationen auf der Webseite der Stadt Cincinnati wurden ursprünglich in englischer Sprache verfaßt. Einige Teilbereiche der Seite sind mit der Übersetzungssoftware der Firma Systran ausgestattet, welche die Echtzeit-Übersetzung von Inhalten ins Französische, Deutsche, Spanische, Chinesische (VR China), Koreanische, und Russische ermöglicht. Es kann sich ergeben, daß die Übersetzungen aus dem Englischen Übersetzungsfehler enthalten. Die Nutzung der übersetzten Inhalte erfolgt ohne Gewähr seitens der Stadt Cincinnati; die Stadt Cincinnati übernimmt keinerlei Haftung für Übersetzungsfehler, insbesondere für daraus entstandene unmittelbare Schäden und Folgeschäden. Leser, die präziser Information bedürfen, sollten die englischen Originalfassungen verwenden.

Информации, находящиеся на сайте города Цинциннати, были первоначально опубликованы на английском языке. На несколько страниц этого сайта возможно использовать программ автоматического перевода фирмы Systran, который поставляет переводы на французский, немецкий, испанский, китайский (НР Китай), корейский, и русский языки. Переводы с английского языка могут и содержать ошибки. Город Цинциннати не берет на себя никакой юридической ответственности, в том числе и ответственности за возмещение прямых и непрямых ущерб из-за ощибок в переводе. Читатели, которым нужны точные информации, должны использовать английскую версию.

Las informaciones contenidas en la web de la ciudad de Cincinnati fueron originalmente redactadas en inglés. Algunas partes del sitio están provistas del software de traducción automática de Systran, que permite la traducción en tiempo real del contenido al francés, alemán, español, chino (simplificado), coreano, y ruso. Las traducciones del inglés no son necesariamente correctas o exactas. La ciudad de Cincinnati no garantiza dichas traducciones, ni acepta ninguna responsabilidad jurídica por errores de traducción, incluyendo la responsabilidad por daños directos e indirectos. Los lectores que necesiten informaciones precisas deberán leer las versiones originales en inglés.

シンシンナティ市のウェブサイトの内容は英語で作成されました。SYSTRAN社の実時機 械翻訳ソフトでフランス語、ドイツ語、スペイン語、中国語（簡体字）、韓国語、ロシヤ語に翻訳できるページもあります。訳文の内容には誤訳もありえます。 シンシンナティ市は、当該翻訳に関しては、如何なる保証もうしませんし、誤訳から生じるあらゆる直接又は間接な損害に関しては何の法的責任も負わないもの としますので、ご了承ください。正確な情報が必要な方は、英語版をご利用ください。