>> Chomsky compares the approach to a statistical model of insect behavior. Given enough video of swarming bees, for example, researchers might devise a statistical model that allows them to predict what the bees might do next. But in Chomsky’s opinion it doesn’t impart any true understanding of why the bees dance in the way that they do.<p>Chomsky is at liberty to pursue an understanding of bee behavior. The engineers and scientists who created the system were interested in translating, not understanding. It seems to me that any system, whether based on a statistical model or some other approach, that achieves a valid translation is clearly a success. For all we know the brains of human translators work similarly.