Artificial Intelligence and Human Parity in Language Services

A few weeks ago, I attended the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder meeting. During the meeting, I was surprised to hear Warren Buffet put into words my exact thoughts concerning AI. If I recall, he said current artificial intelligence is more hype than results. I was pleased to hear him say that because it reflected my recent experiences and I am always impressed with how knowledgeable and current Mr. Buffett is.
For several years I have tried to stay very attune to the developments in AI and have watched the announcements. I have read the articles and then tested it myself where easily accessible. Recently an article touted AI as having achieved “human parity” in translations. I was extremely interested and dug a little deeper than the headlines and from what I could determine, they were very happy about progress in an incredibly narrow corner of the industry. In short, I was a bit crestfallen because I truly look forward to the advancements in technology related to the language industry. However, the click-bait style headline and subsequent article left me with a bit of an empty feeling. I understand that celebrating each progressive step forward toward a goal should be celebrated, but the recent reporting seemed more than that.
Each time I hear about significant progress in the field of AI, I tap my different AI sources directly within specific companies to see if I can replicate similar results and gauge the impact it might have on our business, processes, etc. Sometimes I am able to replicate the results and other times I cannot.
I look forward to the true advancement in this field. I think the impact can and will be “huge”. However, I hope that on the path to AI human parity in language services, we don’t have to hear each micro advancement touted as having, “arrived”. If we call things what they really are, it will better support the efforts and the cause instead of draining people out on the topic.
I agree with Warren Buffet, especially in the case of this recent announcement. To me, it was clearly more hype than results.