More and more people are interacting with MT, in an increasing variety
of ways. They may be end users of machine-translated information, some
of whom need high quality text, others who just need to obtain a gist
of the meaning. Or they may be intermediaries, such as professional
translators, in charge of post-editing the MT output, or volunteers
who post-edit for a favourite cause. This Workshop focuses on the
theme of interacting with machine translation.
In recent years, there has been a focus on one form of interaction
with MT, post-editing, through various workshops (WPTP 1, 2, 3, 4) and
publications, e.g. collected volumes (O’Brien et al 2014a, Carl et al
2016) and a special issue of the journal Machine Translation (O’Brien
and Simard 2014). This has led to better understanding of interacting
with MT through the lens of post-editing.
Historically, there has also been an interest in various forms of
“interactive MT”, e.g. involving the real-time updating of MT
suggestions as the user edits (e.g. Foster et al. 1997, Langlais et
al. 2000, Casacuberta et al. 2008, González-Rubio et
al. 2013). However, we do not yet understand the impact (positive or
negative) of this sort of technology on users such as translators.
Also in recent years, functionality has been developed in editing
tools to log and model translator interaction with MT (e.g Casmacat,
iOmegaT, Lilt, Matecat, Translog II, HandyCAT) and new interfaces are
emerging as a result. Only limited research exists on the impacts of
these UI innovations. Furthermore, very little research has been done
from the point of view of readability, accessibility, acceptability,
customer satisfaction, or usability of raw MT or post-edited MT on end
users, or on how this compares with content translated by human
translators, or written by native speakers.
The time is right to call for researchers, developers and users of MT
to consider questions relating to interacting with MT. The workshop
deliberately uses the term “interacting” to broaden the focus beyond
post-editing and interactive MT, though both of these topics fit
comfortably within the theme.
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Interacting with MT: Questions of interest
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We are particularly interested in the following themes, but also
welcome other ideas which touch on human interaction with MT:
* How do organizations currently measure end-user interaction and
satisfaction with MT?
* What robust methods can be used to measure users’ interaction with
MT?
* Do these measures correlate with traditional MT quality evaluation
metrics?
* How can developers best use end-user interaction data to improve MT
output quality and user experience of MT?
* What new interactive features are being developed in CAT tools for
translators who interact with MT?
* What is the impact of features such as interactive editing,
highlighting of phrase alignment etc., on translators, the
translation process and product?
* How does translator interaction with MT (post-editing) differ from
translator interaction with human translation (revision)?
* How does raw or post-edited MT affect usability of products or
content?
* How does raw or post-edited MT affect user satisfaction?
* How does end-user satisfaction of MT output compare with
satisfaction of human translation output?
* How does satisfaction or usability of MT output compare with
satisfaction or usability of source language content?
* Do levels of satisfaction differ across target language, culture,
content type or domain?
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Abstract Submission Information
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We call for *extended abstracts* that address any of the questions
above, or related questions. Abstracts must be 500-600 words long,
excluding references. Abstracts should be submitted as PDF files to
the START system at https://www.softconf.com/amta2016/imt2016, no
later than 11:59 pm PDT (GMT – 12 hours), Monday August 29,
2016. Authors will be notified of acceptance by September 8.
Submissions will be evaluated based on their relevance to the workshop
theme, potential for a stimulating presentation, potential appeal to
the target audience, and overall quality. Accepted abstracts will be
presented as 20 minute presentations at the Workshop (with 10 for
discussion). Note that at least one author must register for the
Workshop.
Authors may subsequently be invited to submit extended papers to a
Special Issue of the journal Machine Translation.
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Multiple Submissions
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Work presented at iMT must represent new work that has not been
previously published. It is the responsibility of the author(s) to
inform the organizers of any potential problem with respect to this
requirement. Authors must inform the iMT organizers by email
(michel.simard@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca, sharon.obrien@dcu.ie) specifying to
which other conference or workshop they are submitting their work.
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Important dates
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* Submission of abstracts: August 29
* Notification of acceptance: September 8
* Workshop: October 29 or November 2, 2016 (TBD)
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Organisers
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Sharon O’Brien
ADAPT, CTTS
DCU, Ireland
sharon.obrien@dcu.ie
Michel Simard
NRC
Canada
michel.simard@cnrc-nrc.gc.ca