When Google and ChatGPT translated my image text, one failed - and the other got weird

3 hours ago 2

One of the amusive aspects of my roles arsenic method columnist and YouTube shaper is investigating caller gadgets arsenic they travel out. I've been investigating an Anycubic Kobra 3 3D printer for a portion now, which led to this article.

3D printers usage bundle called a slicer, which converts a 3D exemplary into layers that the 3D printer lays down successful molten plastic. An unfortunate caller inclination is that astir of the bigger 3D printer companies person taken an open-source slicer called Orca Slicer and rebranded it for their ain use, adding machine-specific codification to alteration printing with their printers.

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Anycubic did this with their Anycubic Slicer Next, which substantially improved their erstwhile home-grown slicer. Anycubic is based successful China. While astir of the screens for their slicer person been translated into English, the presumption leafage inactive remains successful Chinese. I'm definite they'll update it soon, but I'm investigating the caller merchandise now.

original

You tin ever deed the small quadrate successful the precocious close to zoom successful connected the images successful this article.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

While astir of the presumption surface is self-explanatory based connected context, determination were 2 areas wherever I truly wanted to recognize the text. At (1) determination are 2 buttons. I didn't privation to flip the buttons until I knew what they meant. And determination was a large reddish announcement astatine (2). Is this an important informing I request to wage attraction to?

Google Translate

Typically, erstwhile I request thing translated, I conscionable driblet it into Google translate. But I've ever utilized Google Translate for pasting successful text. In this case, I couldn't paste successful the text, truthful I clicked the Images enactment and got an upload screen.

google-upload
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

I past uploaded the screenshot I showed you supra (the archetypal didn't person the greenish numbers), and fed it to Google.

I got backmost the pursuing screen.

google-translate
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

As you tin see, Google Translate replaced astir of the Chinese substance with English text. I could archer that the 2 switches power the people caput airy and the camera light, respectively.

Unfortunately, the reddish informing substance was wholly unreadable, adjacent aft zooming successful astatine 700%.

700percent
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

That was a bummer, truthful I decided to effort ChatGPT Plus. The results were decidedly mixed.

ChatGPT Plus substance output

I utilized the small positive fastener successful ChatGPT Plus and fed it my screenshot. Almost immediately, I got backmost a leafage describing each Chinese drawstring and its English counterpart.

chatgpt-text
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

I noticed 2 things. First, astatine (1), ChatGPT informed maine that a firmware update was required. Google Translate had ignored the bluish substance connected the archetypal and hadn't provided that artifact of substance astatine each successful its re-rendered screenshot.

Second, astatine (2), ChatGPT did, successful fact, construe the reddish informing message. Basically, it said that if you determination the people caput astir connected the instrumentality by hand, you should ticker what you're doing. It's a adjuvant recommendation, but the reddish artifact of substance I'd disquieted astir for months wasn't thing I needed to interest about.

And then, astatine the bottom, ChatGPT offered to overlay the English translation connected the archetypal screenshot. This I had to see.

ChatGPT Plus loses the thread

ChatGPT had already accomplished what I needed from it, truthful the remainder of this was simply curiosity successful my relation arsenic an AI investigator. I responded to ChatGPT's invitation by prompting it with, "Yes, delight overlay the annotations connected the screenshot visually."

I got backmost this.

blue-chinese.png
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

As you tin see, ChatGPT precise thoughtfully placed overlays connected the archetypal screenshot. It conscionable did truthful utilizing bluish Chinese lettering alternatively of providing English translations. Some, similar successful the apical mediate of the surface (at 1), were akin to the Chinese characters already there. Some, similar successful the little close of the surface (at 2) wherever that reddish informing connection had been, placed bluish Chinese letters with acold less symbols than the archetypal text.

Interestingly, ChatGPT besides redid the image. The English substance (at 3) that had primitively work "Body1_PLA_0.2_52m49s.gcode" was modified to "Baby_PLA3_FullNoo.gcode". The 4 spools of filament were replaced by 3 spools (at 4) and were recolored (at 5).

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Ever the optimist, I decided to springiness ChatGPT different chance. I prompted it with "Please effort that again, overlaying English translations to the Chinese lettering."

And, well, I got thing back.

new-chinese.png
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

This 1 showed each 4 filament spools, truthful there's that. It did regenerate the Chinese characters with English words, but it near retired the reddish punctual I was funny about, arsenic good arsenic the firmware update notice.

But what I privation to constituent your attraction to is the camera view. If you comparison intimately to the original, you'll recognize that ChatGPT redid the existent photo. The photo, arsenic it turns out, didn't person thing needing to beryllium translated. The representation connected the near is the original. The representation connected the close is ChatGPT's reinterpretation.

compare

Original is connected the left, ChatGPT's mentation is connected the right.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

Let's tally down the database of what ChatGPT changed:

  • Green arrow: The Kobra 3 instrumentality name, which was successful a stencil-like font with slash shapes, was replaced with conscionable the connection Kobra.
  • Orange arrow: Not astatine each wide what ChatGPT decided to bash to my plug array.
  • Cyan arrow: The people head, which is simply a cube, has go a level entity connected the caller image.
  • Yellow arrow: The entity being printed changed signifier considerably, from an point with histrion supports to thing that looks similar a aureate pedestal.
  • Purple arrow: "Sided PEI Sheet" turned into "Serial PEI Shoot."
  • Red arrows: The labels were moved and changed.
  • Magenta arrow: The worldly crossed the country and the doorway were changed.

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So, yeah. That happened.

AI giveth and AI loseth its mind

On 1 hand, we could accidental that ChatGPT did springiness maine what I wanted, which was the translation of the reddish informing announcement and what those buttons did, wherever Google made it intolerable to spot the informing announcement text. In that context, ChatGPT won and Google lost.

But was it a fluke that ChatGPT gave maine a text-only translation first? Because if ChatGPT had fixed maine lone 1 oregon the different of the screenshots it gave me, we'd person to accidental Google won, not due to the fact that Google gave maine what I wanted, but due to the fact that ChatGPT mislaid its furry small mind.

There is simply a batch astir generative AI that's truly cool. But each truthful often, we besides get immoderate superior caput scratchers. I did get my answer, but I besides got to look wrong a precise disordered AI brain.

Also: How to usage ChatGPT: A beginner's usher to the astir fashionable AI chatbot

This is simply a amusive job.

Have you tried utilizing AI tools similar ChatGPT oregon Google Translate to decipher substance successful images? What worked champion for you? Have you encountered immoderate unusual oregon unexpected results similar the ones described here? What's your go-to instrumentality for translating oregon analyzing interface elements successful different languages? Let america cognize successful the comments below.


You tin travel my day-to-day task updates connected societal media. Be definite to subscribe to my play update newsletter, and travel maine connected Twitter/X astatine @DavidGewirtz, connected Facebook astatine Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Instagram astatine Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, connected Bluesky astatine @DavidGewirtz.com, and connected YouTube astatine YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.

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