Lost in Automatic Translation: Navigating Life in English in the Age of Language Technologies

Automatic translation can convey the words and still miss the point. In Lost in Automatic Translation, computer scientist and natural language processing researcher Vered Shwartz explores the human context behind everyday communication—and what language technologies can overlook when they interpret it.

More than a word-for-word translation

Moving from vocabulary and grammar to idioms, cultural references, and nonverbal cues, Shwartz shows why understanding a language involves more than translating sentences. Examples in the book address the small mismatches that can lead to confusion: a phrase used in the wrong context, an expression taken literally, or an implied meaning that depends on shared knowledge.

Language, culture, and the limits of AI

The book considers machine translation, personal assistants, chatbots, and AI writing tools alongside the cultural and social dimensions of communication. Its chapters explore ambiguity, euphemisms, internet language, accents, code-switching, and body language, asking where technology helps—and where human context still matters.

Three connected perspectives

• Communicating in English: word choice, grammar, and the challenges of expressing ideas naturally.
• Understanding cultural norms and references: figurative language, implied meaning, and the background knowledge communication often assumes.
• Cultural integration through language: accents, identity, bilingualism, and nonverbal signals.

For readers curious about language and technology

Accessible to readers beyond computer science, this book will interest people exploring linguistics, language learning, artificial intelligence, and the effects of digital tools on everyday communication. Shwartz brings a researcher’s perspective to the technology and a personal awareness of the experience of navigating life in English.

Where machines meet human meaning

Lost in Automatic Translation invites readers to look beyond fluent-sounding output and consider the context that makes communication work. It is a thoughtful read for anyone interested in what language technology can do—and what understanding still asks of people.