第1550期:Could robots replace us at work?

If you’re in a job performing tedious tasks, you might think that a robot could do the work instead. But perhaps we underestimate how much technology already helps with the activities that we would otherwise have to do.  And as artificial intelligence progresses we might find it replaces us in the workplace altogether.

如果您的工作是执行繁琐的任务，您可能会认为机器人可以代替您完成这项工作。但也许我们低估了技术已经在多大程度上帮助了我们原本必须做的活动。随着人工智能的进步，我们可能会发现它在工作场所完全取代了我们。

For now, robotic technology is providing a helping hand for businesses, particularly in manufacturing, assisting humans in performing work more efficiently and sometimes more accurately. For online shopping, for example, robots have become essential in giant warehouses. They sort and move millions of objects of all different shapes and sizes, although humans are still needed to pick and distribute the goods.

目前，机器人技术正在为企业提供帮助，特别是在制造业，帮助人类更有效地执行工作，有时甚至更准确。例如，对于在线购物来说，机器人在大型仓库中已经变得必不可少。他们对数以百万计的各种形状和大小的物体进行分类和移动，尽管仍然需要人类来挑选和分配货物。

The advancement of robotics in the workplace is good for some businesses; the ones who research, develop, build and use them. The British government estimates that by 2035, artificial intelligence could add around £630bn to the UK economy. But there are still tasks that robots can’t yet do, and that’s the challenge for companies such as Automata. Its co-founder, Suryansh Chandra, told the BBC that his technology will eliminate boring, repetitive jobs that humans don't like and aren't very good at, and also create new ones that are likely to replace them.

工作场所机器人技术的进步对一些企业有利；研究、开发、建造和使用它们的人。英国政府估计，到 2035 年，人工智能可以为英国经济增加约 6300 亿英镑。但仍有机器人无法完成的任务，这就是 Automata 等公司面临的挑战。它的联合创始人 Suryansh Chandra 告诉 BBC，他的技术将消除人类不喜欢和不太擅长的无聊、重复性工作，并创造可能取代它们的新工作。

It seems inevitable that robots will eventually be able to do more and more of the jobs that are currently performed by humans, so should we be worried by the rise of the machines? Some experts fear hundreds of thousands of jobs could disappear as robots replace human workers. A report by the OECD suggests that 14% of jobs are "at high risk of automation" and 32% of jobs could be "radically transformed", with the manufacturing sector at the highest risk.

机器人最终能够完成越来越多目前由人类完成的工作似乎是不可避免的，那么我们是否应该为机器的兴起而担心呢？一些专家担心，随着机器人取代人类工人，数十万个工作岗位可能会消失。经合组织的一份报告表明，14% 的工作“面临自动化的高风险”，32% 的工作可能“彻底转变”，制造业面临的风险最高。

But as complete automation is some way off, for now we’ll have to work side-by-side with our robot colleagues - and manage to get along with them before they learn to kick us out of the door!

但由于完全自动化还有一段路要走，所以现在我们必须与我们的机器人同事并肩工作 - 并设法在他们学会把我们踢出家门之前与他们相处！

词汇表

robot 机器人
artificial intelligence 人工智能
robotic 像机器人的
a helping hand 帮助，助（人）一臂之力
efficiently 有效地
accurately 准确地
essential 必不可少的
sort 挑拣，分类
distribute 分送
advancement 发展
robotics 机器人技术
research 研究
develop 开发
eliminate 消除
repetitive 重复的
inevitable 不可避免的
automation 自动化
transformed 被彻底改变