On the Use of Mouse Actions at the Character Level

Abstract

Neural Machine Translation (NMT) has improved performance in several tasks up to human parity. However, many companies still use Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools to achieve perfect translation, as well as other tools. Among these tools, we find Interactive-Predictive Neural Machine Translation (IPNMT) systems, whose main feature is facilitating machine–human interactions. In the most conventional systems, the human user fixes a translation error by typing the correct word, sending this feedback to the machine which generates a new translation that satisfies it. In this article, we remove the necessity of typing to correct translations by using the bandit feedback obtained from the cursor position when the user performs a Mouse Action (MA). Our system generates a new translation that fixes the error using only the error position. The user can perform multiple MAs at the same position if the error is not fixed, each of which increases the correction probability. One of the main objectives in the IPNMT field is reducing the required human effort, in order to optimize the translation time. With the proposed technique, an 84% reduction in the number of keystrokes performed can be achieved, while still generating perfect translations. For this reason, we recommend the use of this technique in IPNMT systems.