第1560期:Talking to technology

It's good to have friends that we can talk to and share our thoughts and opinions with. More importantly, they're people we can ask for help or advice. But recently it seems, many of us are developing a new relationship with a mystery person that we'll never meet!

有朋友可以交谈并分享我们的想法和意见是很好的。更重要的是，他们是我们可以寻求帮助或建议的人。但最近似乎，我们中的许多人正在与一个我们永远不会见面的神秘人发展新的关系！

I'm talking about virtual assistants or bots. These are pieces of software that we can talk to and it can talk back to us. Examples include Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana. It might be on your phone or computer or even a smart speaker in your home. They are changing the way we interact with technology - instead of typing on a computer keyboard or tapping on a tablet, we can now speak and a voice will answer.

我说的是虚拟助手或机器人。这些是我们可以与之交谈的软件，它可以与我们交谈。例子包括苹果的 Siri、谷歌的助手、亚马逊的 Alexa 和微软的 Cortana。它可能在您的手机或计算机上，甚至可能是您家中的智能扬声器。它们正在改变我们与技术互动的方式——我们现在可以说话，语音会回答，而不是在电脑键盘上打字或敲击平板电脑。

The people behind these voices are called conversation designers. Tom Hewitson is one of them. He told the BBC "this is kind of changing [computers] into like an agent. They’re an active participant in the interaction and in guiding you to make the right decision." So he's saying this cutting-edge technology has the ability to think for itself and make its own decisions.

这些声音背后的人被称为对话设计师。汤姆·休伊特森就是其中之一。他告诉 BBC，“这有点像把 [计算机] 变成了一个代理。它们是互动的积极参与者，并指导你做出正确的决定。”所以他说这种尖端技术有能力独立思考并做出自己的决定。

It is a scary thought that this virtual voice can think for you – will it stop us using our own brains and will we lose the ability to write things down or type? They are certainly clever, helping you to book train tickets, give you the latest weather news or even tell you a joke. But are they really your new best friend?

这个虚拟声音可以为你思考，这是一个可怕的想法——它会阻止我们使用自己的大脑，我们会失去写下或打字的能力吗？他们当然很聪明，可以帮助您预订火车票，为您提供最新的天气新闻，甚至给您讲笑话。但他们真的是你最好的新朋友吗？

One thing we can't do yet is to make chit-chat or small talk with it. We have to alter the way we speak. As Tom Hewitson says "We will develop our own kind of vernacular for speaking with machines that will be subtly different from how we speak to other people… It can be much more brusque and to the point."

我们还不能做的一件事是与它闲聊或闲聊。我们必须改变我们说话的方式。正如 Tom Hewitson 所说：“我们将开发自己的语言来与机器交谈，这将与我们与其他人交谈的方式略有不同……它可以更加直截了当和切中要害。”

But there's no doubt this technology will soon be commonplace in our lives. This year Google Duplex was revealed, described by the company as artificial intelligence "for accomplishing real-world tasks over the phone". It's a type of chatbot that will allow you to, for example, chat to your hairdresser about when they can fit you in for a cut. Other companies are working on similar things. But before they perfect this new technology, don't forget who your real friends are!

但毫无疑问，这项技术很快就会在我们的生活中变得司空见惯。今年 Google Duplex 被披露，该公司将其描述为“通过电话完成现实世界任务”的人工智能。这是一种聊天机器人，例如，您可以与理发师聊天，了解他们何时适合您进行剪裁。其他公司也在做类似的事情。但在他们完善这项新技术之前，不要忘记你真正的朋友是谁！

词汇表

virtual assistant 虚拟助手
bot（能自动执行搜索任务的）网上机器人程序
software 软件
smart speaker 智能扬声器
interact 交流，互动
conversation designer 对话设计师
agent (=something that causes change) 作用剂，动因
cutting-edge 最新的，尖端的
think for itself 独立思考
chit-chat 聊天，闲谈
small talk 闲聊
vernacular 方言，白话
brusque 无礼的，唐突的
commonplace 司空见惯的事情
artificial intelligence (AI) 人工智能
real-world task 现实生活中的真实任务
chatbot 聊天机器人