<s>
IBM	O
's	O
Automatic	B-General_Concept
Language	I-General_Concept
Translator	I-General_Concept
was	O
a	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
system	I-Application
that	O
converted	O
Russian	O
documents	O
into	O
English	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
an	O
optical	B-Device
disc	I-Device
that	O
stored	O
170,000	O
word-for-word	O
and	O
statement-for-statement	O
translations	O
and	O
a	O
custom	O
computer	O
to	O
look	O
them	O
up	O
at	O
high	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Built	O
for	O
the	O
US	O
Air	O
Force	O
's	O
Foreign	O
Technology	O
Division	O
,	O
the	O
AN/GSQ	B-General_Concept
-16	I-General_Concept
(	O
or	O
XW-2	O
)	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
was	O
known	O
to	O
the	O
Air	O
Force	O
,	O
was	O
primarily	O
used	O
to	O
convert	O
Soviet	O
technical	O
documents	O
for	O
distribution	O
to	O
western	O
scientists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
translator	O
was	O
installed	O
in	O
1959	O
,	O
dramatically	O
upgraded	O
in	O
1964	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
eventually	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
running	O
SYSTRAN	B-General_Concept
in	O
1970	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
not	O
for	O
a	O
translation	B-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
but	O
a	O
pure	O
research	O
and	O
development	O
contract	O
for	O
a	O
high-performance	O
photographic	O
online	O
storage	O
medium	O
consisting	O
of	O
small	O
black	O
rectangles	O
embedded	O
in	O
a	O
plastic	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1954	O
IBM	O
gave	O
an	O
influential	O
demonstration	O
of	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
,	O
known	O
today	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Georgetown-IBM	B-General_Concept
experiment	I-General_Concept
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Run	O
on	O
an	O
IBM	B-Device
704	I-Device
mainframe	B-Architecture
,	O
the	O
translation	B-Application
system	I-Application
knew	O
only	O
250	O
words	O
of	O
Russian	O
limited	O
to	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
organic	O
chemistry	O
,	O
and	O
only	O
6	O
grammar	O
rules	O
for	O
combining	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
most	O
researchers	O
in	O
the	O
nascent	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
field	O
felt	O
that	O
the	O
major	O
challenge	O
to	O
providing	O
reasonable	O
translations	O
was	O
building	O
a	O
large	O
library	O
,	O
as	O
storage	O
devices	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
were	O
both	O
too	O
small	O
and	O
too	O
slow	O
to	O
be	O
useful	O
in	O
this	O
role	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
King	O
felt	O
that	O
the	O
photoscopic	O
store	O
was	O
a	O
natural	O
solution	O
to	O
the	O
problem	O
,	O
and	O
pitched	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
an	O
automated	B-Application
translation	I-Application
system	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
photostore	O
to	O
the	O
Air	O
Force	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Texts	O
were	O
hand-copied	O
onto	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
using	O
custom	O
Cyrillic	O
terminals	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
input	O
into	O
the	O
machine	O
for	O
translation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Funding	O
for	O
an	O
upgraded	O
machine	O
was	O
soon	O
forthcoming	O
,	O
and	O
work	O
began	O
on	O
a	O
"	O
Mark	O
II	O
"	O
system	O
based	O
around	O
a	O
transistorized	O
computer	O
with	O
a	O
faster	O
and	O
higher-capacity	O
10inch	O
glass-based	O
optical	B-Device
disc	I-Device
spinning	O
at	O
2,400	O
RPM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
addition	O
was	O
an	O
optical	B-Application
character	I-Application
reader	I-Application
provided	O
by	O
the	O
third	O
party	O
,	O
which	O
they	O
hoped	O
would	O
eliminate	O
the	O
time-consuming	O
process	O
of	O
copying	O
the	O
Russian	O
text	O
into	O
machine-readable	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
About	O
3,500	O
of	O
these	O
were	O
stored	O
in	O
core	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
to	O
improve	O
performance	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
average	O
speed	O
of	O
20	O
words	O
per	O
minute	O
was	O
claimed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
its	O
return	O
to	O
the	O
FTD	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
used	O
continually	O
until	O
1970	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
machine	O
running	O
SYSTRAN	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1964	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
commissioned	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
National	O
Academy	O
of	O
Sciences	O
(	O
NAS	O
)	O
to	O
prepare	O
a	O
report	O
on	O
the	O
state	O
of	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NAS	O
formed	O
the	O
"	O
Automatic	B-General_Concept
Language	I-General_Concept
Processing	I-General_Concept
Advisory	I-General_Concept
Committee	I-General_Concept
"	O
,	O
or	O
ALPAC	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
published	O
their	O
findings	O
in	O
1966	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ALPAC	B-General_Concept
report	I-General_Concept
was	O
as	O
influential	O
as	O
the	O
Georgetown	B-General_Concept
experiment	I-General_Concept
had	O
been	O
a	O
decade	O
earlier	O
;	O
in	O
the	O
immediate	O
aftermath	O
of	O
its	O
publication	O
,	O
the	O
US	O
government	O
suspended	O
almost	O
all	O
funding	O
for	O
machine	B-Application
translation	I-Application
research	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ongoing	O
work	O
at	O
IBM	O
and	O
Itek	O
had	O
ended	O
by	O
1966	O
,	O
leaving	O
the	O
field	O
to	O
the	O
Europeans	O
,	O
who	O
continued	O
development	O
of	O
systems	O
like	O
SYSTRAN	B-General_Concept
and	O
Logos	O
.	O
</s>
