Universal translator

One of the best fantasy technologies of Star Trek is the universal translator. When you are wearing one of these handy gadgets, then anything spoken to you in an alien language sounds just like English. And when you talk to your alien acquaintance in English, your speech is automatically translated into their language.

This is no longer a fantasy. We now have the technological capability to do this for real. In addition, immediate automatic translation of written text is now also a reality.

So sometime in the near future, you will be able to go anywhere in the world while wearing your fancy high-tech glasses, and be able to read any sign or menu or document, or talk fluently with someone who speaks any language.

I am not convinced that this is a good thing.

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