【04】智能语音助手很时髦，但他在窃听你的隐私，你知道吗？

关注VX公众号【HF小站】，回复 《6分钟》 获取全部音频及文本。

Can we trust a smart speaker?
智能语音助手安全可靠吗？
Dan: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Dan.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是丹。

Rob: And I'm Rob. So Dan what's... Oh, sorry. Oh, it's my wife. Err... hang on...

我是罗伯。所以丹，什么是……噢，抱歉。噢，是我太太。额，等一下……
Dan: You didn't answer!
你没接！
Rob: Don't take this personally, Dan, but I'm not exactly crazy about someone eavesdropping on my phone call. If you eavesdrop on something, you secretly listen to someone's conversation. Some things are private, you know?

别往心里去，丹，我并不喜欢有人偷听我的电话。如果你偷听某事，你就是在偷偷地听别人的谈话。你知道的，有些事情是私密的？

Dan: Oh! Of course! I totally understand. One quick question for you though... do you have a smart speaker? You know, like the Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri.

哦！当然！我完全理解。然而有一个问题要问你……你有智能语音助手吗？你知道的，就像是谷歌助手，亚马逊的Alexa或者苹果的Siri。

Rob: Oh sure, yes, I've got one! It's great! I can ask it all sorts of questions, it tells me about the news and weather, it plays music when I want... it does all sorts! You just give it a voice command and it does what you want!


哦，当然，我有智能语音助手！它太棒了！我可以问它各种各样的问题，它告诉我新闻和天气，它可以在我想要播放音乐的时候播放音乐……它可以做各种事情！你只要给它一个语音指令，它就会做你想做的！
Dan: So it can hear you, can it?

所以它能听见你说话，是吗？


Rob: Of course! How else can you give it a voice command?
当然！不然你怎么能给它一个语音指令呢？

Dan: All the time?
每时每刻？

Rob: Well, I assume so.

好吧，我想是的。

Dan: So how do you know it's not eavesdropping on you?


那么你怎么知道它不会对你进行窃听呢？

Rob: Well, I... oh... I see. I hadn't thought of that.

嗯，我……噢……我明白了。我没有想到那一点。

Dan That's our topic for this 6 Minute English. How safe is your smart speaker? However, before that, here's our quiz question. By what percentage has the number of smart speakers used in US households increased from December 2017 to December 2018? Is it... a) around 40% b) around 60%, or c) around 80%?

那就是这期六分钟英语的主题。你的智能语音助手有多安全？然而，在那之前，这里是我们的测试问题。从2017年12月到2018年12月，使用智能语音助手的美国家庭的数量增加了多少？是a) 大约40%，b) 大约60%，还是c) 大约80%？

Rob: Oh, well, I know they are very popular even in my household. So I'm going to go for c) around 80%.

哦，好吧，我知道它们甚至在我家都很受欢迎。所以我选c) 大约80%。

Dan: We'll find out if you're right later in the programme. So, smart speakers and privacy! Florian Schaub is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. Here he is speaking on the BBC World Service programme The Why Factor about smart speakers. What does he say people are introducing into their homes?

我们将在稍后的节目中揭晓你的答案是否正确。所以，智能语音助手和隐私！弗洛里安·绍布是密歇根大学信息学院的助理教授。这是他在BBC环球广播节目The Why Factor中关于智能语音助手的讲话。他说人们正把什么引入家里？

Florian Schaub
弗洛里安·绍布
You're basically introducing... listening bug in your home, in your most intimate space. While the companies say they are only actively listening to what's going on in your home when they hear the keyword, the microphone is still on the whole time in order to be able to detect that keyword. We don't know to what extent companies are co-operating with the government or to what extent the government might try to circumvent company security mechanisms in order to then be able to listen to what you're doing.

你本质上正在引入……窃听器到你家里，到你最私密的空间。然而这些公司表示，他们只是在听到关键词时才会主动去听你家里发生的事情，但是为了能够检测到关键词，麦克风是一直开着的。我们不知道为了能够听到你在做什么，公司在多大程度上与政府合作，或者政府在多大程度上可能试图绕过公司的安全机制。

Dan: So what did he say people are introducing, Rob?

所以，罗伯，他说人们正在引入什么？

Rob: He basically said we're introducing a listening bug. Now, a bug is a small electronic device used for secretly listening to conversations. Much like a spy would use.

他主要是说我们引入了一个窃听器。窃听器是一种用于秘密监听对话的小型电子设备。更像是间谍会使用的。


Dan: Yes, and he mentioned it was in our most intimate space! Intimate means 'private and personal'.

是的，而且他提到窃听器是在我们最私密的空间里！Intimate指的是"秘密的，私人的"。

Rob: Well, I can't think of anywhere more intimate than my home.

是的，我想不到哪里比我家还私密。

Dan: Indeed! He also said that the smart speaker's microphone is on the whole time - even though the companies insist that they're only actively listening when the keyword is said.

确实！他还说，智能语音助手的麦克风一直开着——尽管公司坚称他们只是在听到关键字时才会主动去听。

Rob: Yes, he suggested that we can't know how far a company might be co-operating with a government to eavesdrop on people.

是的，他表示我们无法知道一家公司在多大程度上可能与政府合作来对民众进行窃听。

Dan: Or whether a government might be circumventing a smart speaker's security and listening in anyway without the company's or owner's permission!

或者政府是否可能绕过智能语音助手的安保，在没有公司或公司所有者许可的情况下偷听！

Rob: Circumvent means 'cleverly bypass or go around'. So if all this eavesdropping is possible, why are smart speakers so popular?

Circumvent指的是"巧妙地绕过"。所以如果所有这些窃听都是可能的，那么为什么智能语音助手如此受欢迎呢？

Dan: Good question! And here's Florian Schaub again with an answer. He conducted a study on people's attitudes to privacy when it comes to smart speakers. How do people feel about having a smart speaker that could eavesdrop on them?

问得好！弗洛里安·绍布再次谈到并给出了答案。他进行了一项研究，关于当谈到智能语音助手时人们对隐私的态度。人们对拥有一个可以对他们进行窃听的智能语音助手有何感想？
Florian Schaub
弗洛里安·绍布
What we often saw is people just being resigned to 'this is the trade-off they have to make' if they want to enjoy the convenience that a smart speaker provides to them.

我们经常看到的情况是，如果人们想享受智能语音助手带给他们的便利，他们就不得不屈从于"这是他们必须做出的妥协"。

Rob: He said that people are resigned to the privacy trade-off. If you are resigned to something, you accept something unpleasant that can't be changed.

他说，人们已经接受了隐私方面的妥协。如果你屈从于某件事，你就要接受无法改变的不愉快。

Dan: Yes and a trade-off is a compromise. You accept something bad to also receive something good.

是的，"trade-off"就是妥协。你接受了不好的事物，同时也接受了好的事物。

Rob: So people accept that a smart speaker gives them advantages, even though there could be downsides?

所以人们接受智能语音助手给他们带来好处，即使可能会有缺点？

Dan: Yes. In the grand scheme of things, the data that these devices hear is probably not that significant considering all the data companies have about us already anyway!

是的。考虑到不管怎样所有的数据公司已经有了我们的数据，整体上来看，这些设备所听到的数据可能并没有那么重要！

Rob: So can I have the answer to the quiz then?

所以我能知道测验问题的答案了吗？

Dan: Of course! Earlier I asked by what percentage the number of smart speakers used in US households increased from December 2017 to December 2018? Was it... a) around 40% b) around 60%, or c) around 80%? What did you say, Rob?

当然！早些时候我问，从2017年12月到2018年12月，使用智能语音助手的美国家庭数量增加了百分之多少？是a) 大约40%，b) 大约60%，还是c) 大约80%？你说是什么，罗伯？

Rob: I said c) around 80%.
我说是c) 大约80%。
Dan: And you are right. The answer is around 80% - from 66 million in December 2017 to 118 million in December 2018, and around ten million people in the UK now use one too! I guess they're really not worried about eavesdropping.

你答对了。答案是大约80%——从2017年12月的6600万到2018年12月的1.18亿，而且现在英国大约有1000万人也在使用智能语音助手！我猜他们真的不担心被窃听。

Rob: Nice slide into the vocabulary there, Dan. If someone eavesdrops on you, it means they secretly listen to your conversation.

很好地过渡到词汇，丹。如果有人对你进行窃听，那指的是他们偷听了你的谈话。

Dan: They could be eavesdropping on you through a bug, which is a small electronic device used to secretly listen to conversations.

他们可能通过窃听器对你进行窃听（eavesdropping），那是一种用于秘密监听谈话的小型电子设备。

Rob: Yes, they may have bugged your most intimate, or private and personal, spaces.

是的，他们可能窃听了你最私密的（intimate）或者最秘密和最私人的空间。

Dan: Next we had circumvent. If you circumvent something, such as security, you cleverly or bypass it or go around it.

接下来我们提到了"绕行"（circumvent）。如果你绕过某些事物，比如安保，那你就是巧妙地绕过它。

Rob: Then we had resigned. If you are resigned to something, it means you accept something unpleasant that can't be changed.

然后我们学了"屈从"（resigned）。如果你屈从于某事物，那就是说你接受了无法改变的不愉快之事。

Dan: And lastly, we had trade-off. A trade-off is a compromise. You get something good, but you also get something bad.

最后，我们学了"妥协"（trade-off）。Trade-off就是"妥协"。你得到一些好的事物，但也会得到一些不好的事物。

Rob: Right - like 6 Minute English! A great discussion and vocabulary, but the trade-off is it only lasts six minutes!

是的——就像六分钟英语！有很棒的讨论和词汇，但妥协之处是它只有六分钟！

Dan: Which is just about now, actually - time to go. So until next time, find us all over the place online and on social media. Just search for BBC Learning English. Bye for now.

差不多就是到现在——是时候结束了。所以在下次节目之前，在网上和社交媒体上查找我们啊。只需搜索BBC教学英语。再见了。