コンテンツへスキップ

TED2023 TED translator topic suggestion

Topic Suggestion at TED2023: TED & its translators need disambiguation, modalities, and interfaces.

I would suggest TED translator community engage in disambiguation to help viewers to feel the intended messages. Translating only for subtitles limits possibilities of translators and talks. Ambiguous remarks or intentions can lead readers to misunderstand the content even those words or phrases are translated into target languages, although it is subtile and invisible for most of the translators or listeners because no one goes under comprehension tests for whatever statements are made in the talks. It is more alarming in languages such as Japanese or other languages that require more "interpretation" to reflect the meaning to subtitles, language which may need restructuring sentences to indicate relationships between words or clauses.

Disambiuation will help different modalities to convey and tell the stories in different forms or ways. Modalities such as multiple levels of abstraction and various forms of media dynamically made available, which may take a style of Manga or bullet point abstracts for talks. This is not negating the pronounced golden rules of TED/TEDx talks where Chris Anderson repeatedly stressed to make similar brain patterns to the people who watch the talk. Modalities may or may not ask TED to allow its users to remix or summarize its assets, which goes against current CC-BY-NC-ND.

Finally, interfaces may present additional communication methods in spreading the talks and helping spectators to understand/relate to the talks, or in handling queries in the community. The interfaces may include conversational interfaces, obviously. TED's interface is currently limited to TED.com site and YouTube channel, and its associated disseminating means under CC-BY-NC-ND. The community uses Facebook group posts to answer questions. However, different time or people will feel and comprehend message better in diverse interfaces. One of which may be chat agents who guide us to understand chunk by chunk and idea by idea. Another would be to follow the stories in different levels of details, even mixed for different sections, as in the book, "the network state" where it summed up its content in one sentence, one image, one thousand words, and one essay. New kinds of interfaces naturally mandate disambiguation in order for agents to generate content of importance or relevance to viewers in a suitable modality.

Possibility to communicate and co-create message is infinitely promising, and will be going to improve further through disambiguation, modalities, and interfaces where all of the three components influence each other synergetically. Could you take this as topic to be discussed among those at TED translators present at TED2023?