4 ms·

It would only cost a few dollars for LLM based translations. I do not see why those cannot be spent.

hoseyor 2y ago
A number of free LLMs would do that. But if it costs, I agree, people can spend some of their dollars to translate it.
labster 2y ago
Putting aside the public safety problems an AI mistranslation could cause: for the current administration, making foreigners more welcome in America would be counterproductive.
- 8note 2y ago
  the US doesnt have english as the law of the land, only as a very recent emergency order by the president. its very likely that plenty of US citizens have never spoken no read anythjng in english in their life
  - oldnetguy 2y ago
    If they were born here and schooled here they had to have learned English, if they came here and gotten citizenship they have to know English.Its a requirement.
    - aredox 2y ago
      ... And the 50 millions yearly tourists be damned. Too bad for them if they are stricken by tornadoes or floods or hurricanes or... In the end it is pure xenophobia. Pure, cruel xenophobia, putting people in harm's way because you couldn't care less about them.
      - hoseyor 2y ago
        [flagged]
      - jjani 2y ago
        > ... And the 50 millions yearly tourists be damned. It does seem like the plan is to slash that number too, and they're succeeding.
      - avalys 2y ago
        If you can afford to travel to the US, you can afford a cell phone with access to the huge variety of free and accurate translation apps.
        aredox 1y ago
        Very useful when the network and power lines are down. You've never been in a distater zone, have you?
        avalys 1y ago
        What scenario do you imagine where you're in a disaster zone in a foreign country with a different native language, with no access to network or power, and that country is somehow providing you translated emergency weather announcements in your own language?
    - alxlaz 2y ago
      More abstract arguments about taxpayer money aside, English expertise on a citizenship level is actually quite the counter-argument for this move. A significant number, or possibly a majority of, adult native English speakers in the US actually speak English significantly below their formal education level: around 90% of them have at least graduated high school, but 54% of them read English below sixth grade level. Standard English competency testing for the citizenship test is a joke (you have to read and write one of three sentences in a manner that demonstrates basic comprehension and familiarity with the language). But even so, there's a sizable number of native adult English speakers who would fail it. So while they may have had to learn English in school or used it to pash their citizenship test, that's no guarantee that adults still speak it well enough. That's not particularly surprising, given that there are large, non-English speaking communities in the US. Someone who's passed their citizenship test in the 1980s and has spoken English maybe once a week afterwards in a shop or a restaurant is likely to have forgotten most of it. inb4 "but you have to know it to come here": kind of (adjusting for the barebones testing), but the largest group of low-English literacy adults is actually white, native-born Americans, and most low-English literacy adults are native-born: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp
    - nagaiaida 2y ago
      what language do you think the amish speak at home? which schools do you believe they attend? do you expect this to be the sole example you've failed to consider?
      - chucksta 2y ago
        PA Dutch at home but they are certainly taught English in their schools, they do in fact interact with their local communities and would need to know it.
unsnap_biceps 2y ago
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/desi... is most likely the main reason. Currying favor with Trump.
keane 2y ago
The translations they were using (and have discontinued) were from Lilt, which uses LLM: https://lilt.com https://lilt.com
int0x29 2y ago
Hallucination in extreme weather warnings could get people killed. I'd rather have something more reliable used.
- fortyseven 2y ago
  Depending on the language, personally, I haven't seen a great deal of hallucination with the models I use (llama 3.1 often). I wouldn't expect, say Spanish, to be a problem. I think you'll find more potential issues when it comes to more domain-specific terminology.
bgro 2y ago
The cost of this is not the real reason it was removed.
4ndrewl 2y ago
TBF they just lost 2billion USD/day by scrapping tariff duties so the money has to come from somewhere...
KevinMS 2y ago
The government cannot do anything for a few dollars.
jawilson2 2y ago
Because The Cruelty is the Point. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelt...

A number of free LLMs would do that. But if it costs, I agree, people can spend some of their dollars to translate it.

Putting aside the public safety problems an AI mistranslation could cause: for the current administration, making foreigners more welcome in America would be counterproductive.

8note 2y ago
the US doesnt have english as the law of the land, only as a very recent emergency order by the president. its very likely that plenty of US citizens have never spoken no read anythjng in english in their life
- oldnetguy 2y ago
  If they were born here and schooled here they had to have learned English, if they came here and gotten citizenship they have to know English.Its a requirement.
  - aredox 2y ago
    ... And the 50 millions yearly tourists be damned. Too bad for them if they are stricken by tornadoes or floods or hurricanes or... In the end it is pure xenophobia. Pure, cruel xenophobia, putting people in harm's way because you couldn't care less about them.
    - hoseyor 2y ago
      [flagged]
    - jjani 2y ago
      > ... And the 50 millions yearly tourists be damned. It does seem like the plan is to slash that number too, and they're succeeding.
    - avalys 2y ago
      If you can afford to travel to the US, you can afford a cell phone with access to the huge variety of free and accurate translation apps.
      - aredox 1y ago
        Very useful when the network and power lines are down. You've never been in a distater zone, have you?
        avalys 1y ago
        What scenario do you imagine where you're in a disaster zone in a foreign country with a different native language, with no access to network or power, and that country is somehow providing you translated emergency weather announcements in your own language?
  - alxlaz 2y ago
    More abstract arguments about taxpayer money aside, English expertise on a citizenship level is actually quite the counter-argument for this move. A significant number, or possibly a majority of, adult native English speakers in the US actually speak English significantly below their formal education level: around 90% of them have at least graduated high school, but 54% of them read English below sixth grade level. Standard English competency testing for the citizenship test is a joke (you have to read and write one of three sentences in a manner that demonstrates basic comprehension and familiarity with the language). But even so, there's a sizable number of native adult English speakers who would fail it. So while they may have had to learn English in school or used it to pash their citizenship test, that's no guarantee that adults still speak it well enough. That's not particularly surprising, given that there are large, non-English speaking communities in the US. Someone who's passed their citizenship test in the 1980s and has spoken English maybe once a week afterwards in a shop or a restaurant is likely to have forgotten most of it. inb4 "but you have to know it to come here": kind of (adjusting for the barebones testing), but the largest group of low-English literacy adults is actually white, native-born Americans, and most low-English literacy adults are native-born: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019179/index.asp
  - nagaiaida 2y ago
    what language do you think the amish speak at home? which schools do you believe they attend? do you expect this to be the sole example you've failed to consider?
    - chucksta 2y ago
      PA Dutch at home but they are certainly taught English in their schools, they do in fact interact with their local communities and would need to know it.

unsnap_biceps 2y ago

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/desi... is most likely the main reason. Currying favor with Trump.

keane 2y ago

The translations they were using (and have discontinued) were from Lilt, which uses LLM: https://lilt.com https://lilt.com

int0x29 2y ago

Hallucination in extreme weather warnings could get people killed. I'd rather have something more reliable used.

fortyseven 2y ago
Depending on the language, personally, I haven't seen a great deal of hallucination with the models I use (llama 3.1 often). I wouldn't expect, say Spanish, to be a problem. I think you'll find more potential issues when it comes to more domain-specific terminology.

bgro 2y ago

The cost of this is not the real reason it was removed.

4ndrewl 2y ago

TBF they just lost 2billion USD/day by scrapping tariff duties so the money has to come from somewhere...

KevinMS 2y ago

The government cannot do anything for a few dollars.

jawilson2 2y ago

Because The Cruelty is the Point. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelt...