Nataly Kelly: Google, Kurzweil, and the Information Transformation Age [Huff Post Tech]

There may still be hope for parent/teenager communication...

"Indeed, useful is an important word to look at when trying to understand the importance of translation in Google's mission statement. What does it really mean for information to be useful to people? It means that they can understand it easily and readily, in their preferred communication styles, so that they can do something with it. The implications of this are vast and go beyond mere language translation.
One implication might be a technology that can translate from one generation to another. Or how about one that slows down your speech or turns up the volume for an elderly person with hearing loss? That enables a stroke victim to use the clarity of speech he had previously? That can filter out cultural taboos? That can automatically change the reading level to match the age or literacy level of the individual? That can convert legalese into plain language? That can pronounce using your favorite accent? That can convert academic jargon to local slang? These are just a sampling of the many ways that better language processing can change our lives in very useful ways."

Nataly Kelly: Google, Kurzweil, and the Information Transformation Age