Human vs machine translation of foreign languages

The translation of technical subject matter demands an extensive knowledge of both languages and a considerable acquaintance with the subject. A computer system to give high-quality translations of serious subjects, spoken or written, would be most useful, but neither the cerebral logic used in translation nor the semantic structure of language itself is yet understood. The memory storage required for machine translation may not be a serious obstacle, but the linguistic task of quantifying the effects of syntax and context upon meaning may prove to be insurmountable.