Tener gripe, tener gripa, engriparse, agriparse, estar agripado, estar griposo, agarrar la gripe, coger la influenza. In Spanish, there are at least a dozen ways to say someone has the flu — depending on the country. Translating “cardiac arrest” into Spanish is also tricky because “arresto” means getting detained by the police.
Likewise, “intoxicado” means you have food poisoning, not that you’re drunk. The examples of how translation could go awry in any language are endless: Words take on new meanings, idioms come and go, and communities adopt slang and dialects for everyday life. Human translators work hard to keep up with the changes, but California plans to soon entrust that responsibility to technology.
State health policy officials want to harness emerging artificial intelligence technology to translate a broad swath of documents and websites related to “health and social services information, programs, benefits and services,” according to state records . Sami Gallegos, a spokesperson for California’s Health and Human Services Agency, declined to elaborate on which documents and languages would be involved, saying that information is “confidential.” The agency is seeking bids from IT firms for the ambitious initiative, though its timing and cost is not yet clear.
Human editors supervising the project will oversee and edit the translations, Gallegos said. Agency officials said they hope to save money and make critical health care forms, applica.
