Is Translation Really Art or Maths?

I am often asked this question in my travels and line of work. The answer appears obvious to the traditionalists, it’s art, but for others translation is a line of code and an algorithm on a screen and that’s pure maths, not art. So why should we even concern ourselves with this debate, why does it matter? Well, the answer to this question provides an insight into the industry that we work in. The purists may not be happy with the answer.

Humans vs. Machine Translation - The War of Words

There isn't a more controversial topic of debate within the translation industry than the machine vs. human translation subject. It's understandable too, the capabilities of machines are constantly increasing and the range of work they can be considered relevant for is growing too. In our online lives we interact with machine translation all the time, but can we really consider machines as a viable professional translation option yet?