Use of computers for language translation is on the increase

http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Use-of-computers-for-language-translation-is-on-the-increase

"The use of computers for translation was first suggested as far back as 1947, not long after useful computers had been developed," says David Wigg, chairman of the BCS Natural Language Translation Specialist Group. "For nearly 20 years a vast amount of work was done on the theory and practice of automating translation, usually referred to as machine translation.

"However, disillusionment grew in the realisation of the extraordinary complexity of language, the meaning of which depended so much on the unspoken knowledge of the world shared by participants. In 1966 a landmark US evaluation report brought an end to almost all support from the US government.