Recently, not only in the IT and business world, but also in general news, it is not an exaggeration to say that there is not a day that goes by without hearing the name ChatGPT. In our company's blog, we have been paying attention to ChatGPT and have been posting articles focusing on its translation capabilities.
Not only did we simply translate, but we also attempted to use ChatGPT for terminology and style specification, translation checking, Japanese proofreading, and glossary creation, making it an interesting content. Please take a look.
Related Blogs:How Good is ChatGPT's Translation Ability? A Thorough Verification of Each Translation Process
Now, in this article, we will focus on ChatGPT in medical translation.
- Table of Contents
Can medical paper summaries be created?
I was interested in the ability to create summaries of content, as well as the performance of real-time translation, for ChatGPT. Therefore, I first attempted to create summaries in both English and Japanese using English papers related to cardiology that are freely available in full text.
When you suddenly enter the entire text and ask for translation or summary creation, an error message saying "The message you submitted was too long, please reload the conversation and submit something shorter." will appear and it will not be accepted. It was not possible to enter the entire paper and have the abstract created at once.
So, when I extracted only the Method section of the same paper and requested "Create Summary", an English sentence was generated, and when I requested "Create Abstract", a Japanese sentence was generated. The original word count was 977, and the generated English summary had 223 words. The number of characters in the Japanese summary was 485.
The content of this study was described as a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to investigate the potential impact of drug therapy on pregnancy outcomes in pregnant patients with cardiovascular disease. However, the original text did not specify the details of the conditions of the pregnant women included in the study. Additionally, the keywords used in the database search conducted within the study were not listed in the Japanese summary.
Based on the results of this time, it is considered difficult to simply instruct the creation of a summary or to generate a selection of appropriate sections from an English paper from the perspective of a researcher. Currently, it can be said that the results reflect the fact that AI only performs advanced natural language processing and statistical processing.
However, there is a possibility that the answer can be improved by entering appropriate search conditions each time, and currently, various research institutions are experimenting with the use of AI such as ChatGPT for creating and proofreading papers. There is also a possibility that an effective paper creation method using ChatGPT, including summary creation methods, is being developed. On the other hand, there is also a movement to restrict the use of large-scale language models in publishing media, so it will be necessary to keep an eye on it.
What about translating medical papers?
ChatGPT does not have a character limit for a single question. However, even though there is no limit on the number of characters that can be entered in the question field, there seems to be a limit on the number of characters in the answer.
In fact, as mentioned earlier, it was possible to enter a 3800-word English paper in the question field, but even when requesting translation, an error message was displayed and the translation was not generated.
Next, we asked for a translation of the same paper, focusing on the Introduction and Methods (approximately 1300 words), but the translation stopped at 553 characters.
The approximate amount of English to Japanese translation that can be handled in one operation is about 500 characters in Japanese after translation and 1000 words in the original text. While the processing speed for each operation is certainly fast, it may be insufficient considering the amount of content typically handled in industrial translation. While there may be expectations for benefits and improvements in accuracy in the future through the flexibility of AI-based conversation, in terms of processing capability, there is a need to translate a large amount of content. If machine translation has already been introduced, it does not seem necessary to switch to ChatGPT at this time.
Is it useful for translation checks?
ChatGPT is an AI that can have natural conversations, so I thought it would be best to use it for research during translation checks, going back to its roots (?), and after being careful not to input anything that could lead to confidential or personal information, I tried various things.
Even in medical translation, there are cases where IT terms and marketing terms are frequently used, such as in medical systems and internal management systems. For those who have mainly specialized in translating and checking medical documents, there may be confusion on whether to translate using general terms, leave them in katakana, or if there is a set translation for certain terms. This can also occur when encountering unfamiliar terms or terms that are difficult to understand.
So, for example, if you ask ChatGPT about "OT" in relation to "IT",
"IT and OT represent different types of information technology.
IT (Information Technology) refers to mainly digital information technology, including information processing, information sharing, and communication technology. For example, it includes computer systems, software, and networks."
On the other hand, OT (Operational Technology) refers to the hardware, software, and systems used for automating, controlling, and monitoring industrial processes. OT is used in various industries such as manufacturing, energy, transportation, agriculture, construction, and healthcare. Examples include process control systems, automation systems, sensors, actuators, and SCADA systems.
IT and OT both play important roles, but each has a different purpose. IT focuses on processing, sharing, and managing information, while OT focuses on controlling, monitoring, and automating physical processes. Recently, integration of IT and OT has advanced, with the emergence of technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) and Industry 4.0, promoting the convergence of the two.
An answer was obtained. When verified through internet search, it seems to be a generally reasonable answer.
In addition, in English translation, there are times when information that is not found in dictionary software or dictionary websites is frustrating because it is not known how to search for it on the web.
In such cases, for example,
would "with COVID-19" be an appropriate translation for "withコロナ"?
What is the English translation for "Put the tube on the left side?"
By entering such a question, it will directly provide an answer. Even if you don't use it directly, it may have the effect of reactivating your thoughts that have been stuck, just by seeing the answer that comes out.
It is also possible to translate and check translations of key terms in medical terminology while confirming and reconfirming them as needed.
For example, when working on a project involving cell analysis equipment, I found that by asking questions such as "What is multiplexing?", "What is single cell analysis?", "What is the batch effect in cell analysis?", and "What are "beads" in cell analysis?", explanations of about three paragraphs were displayed on the browser screen. Even if I had some knowledge of these terms, I felt a sense of security while working.
By the way, the answer to "What is a multiplex?" was as follows.
Multiplexing refers to the technology and methods used to transmit multiple pieces of information simultaneously. Specifically, it refers to the method of sharing the same transmission path among multiple signals to transmit multiple pieces of information at the same time.
For example, when a television station broadcasts multiple channels simultaneously, it can transmit a lot of information at the same time by combining the video and audio of each channel and using the same radio wave. In addition, technologies for conducting multiple communications on the Internet at the same time, and creating multiple lanes on highways to allow multiple vehicles to travel at the same time, are also examples of multiplexing.
In recent years, with the use of multiplexing technology, it has become possible to achieve high efficiency and high-precision analysis in data analysis and the biomedical field by simultaneously processing multiple data and samples.
As mentioned above, I felt a certain convenience in that only the information I wanted to know was directly displayed on the browser screen with only about three paragraphs of text information. In web searches, there are negative conditions such as having to go through the step of finding a site with the information I want, and being distracted by other information such as advertisements, but ChatGPT does not have that.
Be sure to check the content!
As for comments on ChatGPT, there is no old or new information, and the organization of information is still in progress in the Japanese version. Many comments are heard that there is only information on the internet in the first place.
However, there is also a problem that requires a lot of attention in translation checks, which is sometimes "confidently saying something wrong".
This is an example of a wrong answer, but when I asked if there were any educational institutions to learn bio-translation, I was introduced to three institutions: "Fujita Health Communications Institute (FHCI)", "Liberal Arts Japan (LAJ)", and "Japan Medical Translation Academy". Each of them explained that they are schools that provide training in translation, writing, editing, and other areas in the field of medical and bio-translation. They also offer distance learning and online courses.
However, none of these three schools were found in a web search, leading us to believe that they may not actually exist.
So, I asked, "Is there no such thing as Fujita Health Communications Institute (FHCI)?" and they replied, "I apologize, there is a possibility that the information I mentioned earlier was not accurate. I do not have the latest information, so I cannot provide reliable information. I recommend checking more reliable sources for learning bio-translation. Thank you very much."
Another example is when you enter questions related to obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety disorder,
such symptoms may indicate a type of OCD called "obsessive-compulsive checking syndrome". OCD is characterized by suffering from irrational anxiety and obsessions, and has a pattern of repeatedly performing the same actions in order to dispel these anxieties and obsessions. (Continued)
"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" is a term that I am not familiar with, and even when I searched on Google, it did not come up. So, when I typed in "Is the name wrong?", I apologize, I used the wrong term. The correct term is "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)". The response was displayed...
This may sound like a bad joke, but these are actual occurrences as of April 2023.
It is not difficult to imagine that the accuracy of information will continue to increase at a rapid pace. However, in this verification, we did not ask a huge number of questions. At least for now, it is possible that incorrect information may be displayed, which may be slightly higher compared to the expectations placed on ChatGPT.
In any case, it is a fundamental principle in translation and translation checks to verify the information behind it, so it seems necessary to confirm the information of ChatGPT and conduct sufficient background research.
Summary
ChatGPT is not a dedicated translation service, but it is often thought to be unsuitable for specialized translations such as medical translations. However, it may be possible to use its flexibility and multiple functions to assist with translation and translation checks, and we would like to further verify and inform you about them in the future.
However, the output of one operation being only about 500 characters makes it difficult to use for business-based translation. In addition, the reliability of the output is not yet perfect.
ChatGPT, which gives a great potential even in translation work, is recommended to work with a translation company that can propose solutions such as translation support tools, machine translation, and manual translation for important medical content.
We offer manual translation services, post-editing services, and MTrans for Office, an automatic translation software with ChatGPT integration. If you have any concerns or interests, please feel free to contact us.
MTrans for Office, a simple translation software for Office
In addition, we also provide information on medical/medical translation as follows. We hope you find it useful.
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