Research into Machine Translation (MT) dates back to 1933. Developments in the field have been multiple since then and the latest work proves that interaction with CAT tools opens new paths for the translation industry and the professional translator. These articles provide an introduction to MT -past and future, working systems, sites for research and companies using this technology- and some interesting thoughts on how it will affect translators' future.

This report contains valuable analyses of criteria for MT evaluation, and was produced in 1979 for the European Community by synthesizing the contributions of a wide set of experts. The Evaluation Work Group of the ISLE project believes that this work is insufficiently known and used and now, thanks to Maghi King's initiative, the document has been digitized at ISSCO/TIM/ETI, University of Geneva,and published on the ISLE/EWG website.

This is the PostScript, and HTML, version of D.J. Arnold, Lorna Balkan, Siety Meijer, R.Lee Humphreys and Louisa Sadler Machine Translation: an Introductory Guide, Blackwells-NCC, London, 1994, ISBN: 1855542-17x. The book is now a classic in the field of MT and covers aspects such as MT in practice, representation and processing, engines, dictionaries and evaluation. It is a must-read.

This article deals with some of the problems involved in using the AltaVista/Systran MT service. The author points that real-time MT systems bring a new dimension to international information transfer, but NOT to translation.

The author draws the difference between MT tools -that use the computer (the machine) to perform a total translation online- and CAT tools –that use the computer as a tool to assist the human translator-. He regards MT as one of many tools in CAT.

This article explains how to maximize the results of your work by using Machine Translation.

John Hutchins, one of the most relevant figures in MT research with such revealing publications as An Introduction to Machine Translation (published by Academic Press), offers in this article a comprehensive digest of MT and advises on "translation brokerage" services, on-line and real-time translation of electronic mail messages, and the potential market for network MT systems, including multilingual access to information sources. He also addresses the critical issue: Where do these developments leave the professional translator?

The complement to the previous reference by John Hutchins.

John Hutchins, one of the most authorized voices in the world of research and translation automation, reflects on the future of multilingualism and Europe. Provided by HLTCentral.org.

"Wired", this must-read magazine on technology and social issues, devoted its May 2000 issue to MT. This is the first of a collection of articles reviewing MT's past, future, sites and latest developments.

Why does the future of MT never seem to arrive? In an attempt to find an answer to this question, the author visited researchers at Lernout & Hauspie, IBM, Carnegie Mellon University and New Mexico State University and came back with a very interesting insight into the issue.

A look at the most important research centers for machine translation.

A directory of machine translation tools online.

A usual concern among human translators is that machines will take over their business. On the one hand, prophets of doom announce a general crisis sending human translators onto the dole. On the other hand, any reasonable person who has tried MT software knows that human translation will be around for quite some time.

Patrick Meadows, associate editor at UPSIDE magazine in Austin, Texas, comments on MT as a business communication tool, focusing on a particular system, Transparent Language's Enterprise Translation Server.

Electronic repository (including articles, books and papers) on machine translation and computer-based translation tools. Compiled by John Hutchins.