The first conference on mechanical translation

THE FOLLOWING is a report on the proceedings of the first MT Conference, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., June 17-20, 1952, and my own reactions. At the Conference individuals working on MT in this country and in England met for the first time and presented their different approaches. A detailed list of participants appears on the next page. The important point is that at this Conference linguists and electronic engineers joined for the first time to survey the linguistic and engineering problems presented by MT. At the end of the Conference it was the general impression of the participants that, for certain types of source material, a mechanization of the translation process is now a distinct possibility. Thus Dr. Warren Weaver's ideas about the possibility of MT in our time ceased to be a dream and moved into the realm of reality. As a matter of fact, the engineers envisaged the creation of pilot machines within the next few years; that is, machines with limited storage for the translation of a limited quantity of scientific material from a foreign language into intelligible English, built for the purpose of convincing the general public and, especially, foundations and other organizations able to support new ventures, of the feasibility of MT, in order to obtain the funds necessary for further research and improvements. The Conference was ably organized by Dr. Y. Bar-Hillel of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at M.I.T. Half a year earlier Dr. BarHillel had visited the different groups working on MT in this country and published an excellent REPORT ON THE PRESENT STATE OF RESEARCH ON MECHANICAL TRANSLATION. There can be no doubt that much of the success of the Conference was due to Dr. Bar-Hillel's efforts, and it is, I believe, no overstatement to say that MT, if and when it materializes, will