Chapter 290: [An Eternal Second]
《Shitennou-kun, were you interested innguage processing?》
《Why would you think I wasn''t? I''ve lived in an environment where manynguages have been spoken since I was a child. I''ve mastered manynguages and challenged you tonguage battles many times.》
《Ah~》
Now that you mention it, I do recall something like that.
As I was digging through my memory…
《This is for future study. So, it''s not like I bent my principles because Iroha asked…》
Shitennou was mumbling to himself as if trying to convince himself.
Ah, so it''s for studying! Then I can ask for help without hesitation!
《Hehe. Thanks, Shitennou-kun. You''re a great help.》The problem was solved, and I felt relieved.
A natural smile spread across my face.
《~~~~~!?》
For some reason, Shitennou''s face turned bright red.
He started banging his forehead against the desk.
《Shi, Shitennou-kun!?》
《Uwoooo!? Why am I so happy!? I didn''t take this on for that reason at all…!》
Uh, I don''t really get it, but it seems serious.
Well, adolescence can make people act in ways that don''t make sense, so I''ll leave him be.
As I was quietly distancing myself from Shitennou, a girl called out.
"Iroha-chan!"
Her gaze was full of determination.
《Introduce that part-time job to me too! I want to work with Shitennou!》
《Huh? You were interested innguage processing too?》
《Guh!? Ah, no, well, that''s not it》
The girl hesitated with her words.
At that moment, Shitennou straightened up.
《Hey, you should focus on your studies first. Say that after you manage the school tests.》
It seemed he had recovered.
I''ll pretend I didn''t see his forehead being bright red.
《Ugh!? But… Iroha-chan! Is that help limited to just one person?》
《How should I know? We''d have to ask. But I''m sure they''d be happy with as many people as they can get.》
Considering they even came to me, they must be really short-handed.
《Well then! Studying is important, but so is helping a friend in need! Right, Shitennou?》
《Why are you asking me? Well, if Iroha''s fine with it, then I don''t mind.》
《Alright!》
《…If your grades drop, it''s not my problem. It''s your life, after all.》
《What!? It is your problem! Because… You need to help me study even more than before!》
《What!? Why!?》
《N-nothing! It''s fine, isn''t it!?》
《…Hah~. Do whatever you want.》
Shitennou waspletely overpowered by the girl.
She''s impressive. To be so motivated about helping and studying.
I don''t hate studying, but I''m not particrly fond of it either.
So, unless I feel it''s necessary, I struggle to get started.
Or unless someone I like is teaching me.
Hehehe…! I''m looking forward to studying with Bancho!
《Ah~. So, Iroha. What exactly are you researching innguage processing?》
《Come to think of it, I haven''t told you yet, have I?》
The term ‘naturalnguage processing'' covers a wide range of topics.
Chatbots, text correction, social media analysis, etc.
Among them, the research institute I''m coborating with is working on…
《A next-generation "trantion" system.》
《..! I see》
Upon hearing that, Shitennou nodded in understanding.
He seemed to realize why someone like me, who always says, "I can''t reduce my time watching my favorite VTubers!", would go out of my way to help with the research.
Yes, of course—it''s all for VTubers!
《Current "automatic trantion" systems still have a lot of shorings, I think.》
In recent years, with the advancement of AI, the uracy of ‘machine trantion'' has significantly improved.
But even so, thenguage barrier remains high.
Just the other day, there was a peculiar incident.
Bancho, who I had refused to watch "Netflix" with, tweeted this as a substitute:
『Iroha-neki, let''s go for a "walk" together next time?』
It was supposed to mean "If indoor activities are no good, then how about outdoor ones."
However, when automatically tranted into English, it turned into…
『Irohaneki, let''s "have sex" together next time?』
Naturally, overseas fans who saw it were incredibly confused… or rather, extremely excited.
This shows that modern machine trantion still has significant uracy issues.
Such mistrantions are unavoidable given the nature of the current mainstream ‘statistical'' machine trantion, but still, it''s far from perfect.
《And then, there''s the trantion speed.》
It''s not just about tranting but also about analyzing speech, tranting, and then outputting it.
Real-time, nog trantion is still a long way off.
I''ve mentioned this before.
Even a one-secondg can be fatal in a live stream where timing is everything.
If the reaction iste, the conversation moves on.
With current trantion devices, one side will always be left behind in an international coboration.
A second in conversation is an eternity.
Of course, other factors like microphone quality, ambient noise, processing power, andmunication speed also y a role, so it''s not just about having good software.
That''s why we''re trying to create a new ‘system'' for trantion that epasses everything.
《Well, I don''t know how much I''m actually contributing to the research… despite saying all this… Sigh~. If only there were a way to achieve nog trantion somewhere.》
《Eh!?》
For some reason, Shitennou was looking at me with a mix of confusion and astonishment.