Anonymous asked:

I know you dont like questions about learning japanese, so im sorry for that. But would you say that it is still worth learning japanese now. Or will good translation software and a larger focus on translations make it not worth the effort?

That depends on what you want to learn it for. Obviously, if you have a business or emigration reason, then it makes total sense. If it's a hobby or personal interest, then sure. If you just want to understand Japanese media, then you'll probably only have to learn it if you're a purist about the translation quality. Otherwise, I anticipate that AI will soon reach a point where it's not "good" good, but it is "good enough" for most people. In Alice, for example, an AI MTL wouldn't automatically pick up on the Norse mythology theme—I just asked Bing, and it would translate Lokithor as Roxor. But I don't think most people genuinely care about things like that, or even the accuracy of the translation, as long as it's "good enough" for them to understand what's happening.