第1638期:AI in the home

Artificial intelligence becoming self-aware and exterminating the human race is a common theme in science fiction. But the levels of high intelligence that AI could reach is a real concern among some scientists. But with more talk of AI and smart devices in the home, what are the positives of bringing these things into your life?

人工智能具有自我意识并消灭人类是科幻小说中的共同主题。但人工智能可以达到的高智能水平是一些科学家真正关心的问题。但是随着人们越来越多地谈论家庭中的人工智能和智能设备，将这些东西带入你的生活有什么好处？

Hans Rosling, a professor of international health, once spoke about the impact and changes that the washing machine made. The once arduous task of cleaning clothes by hand was taken on by a machine and freed up more time for other activities. There are so many smart devices that you can fill your home with. Imagine waking up to find a piping hot, freshly brewed cup of coffee, spotless floors that have been recently vacuumed and the house set to the perfect temperature. With smart devices, these things can happen while you sleep. The potential to pre-program and automate parts of your life means that you can focus on other tasks in your life.

国际卫生学教授汉斯·罗斯林 (Hans Rosling) 曾谈到洗衣机带来的影响和变化。曾经艰巨的手工洗衣服任务由机器承担，并腾出更多时间进行其他活动。有很多智能设备可以装满你的家。想象一下，醒来时发现一杯滚烫的新煮咖啡，最近用吸尘器吸尘的一尘不染的地板，房子的温度设定在完美的温度。使用智能设备，这些事情可能会在您睡觉时发生。对生活中的某些部分进行预编程和自动化的潜力意味着您可以专注于生活中的其他任务。

But there is a difference between smart devices and AI. Smart devices are the things that get on with the tasks, while AI can ‘think’ or interact, and can be used to control the smart devices. There are many voice-activated AI systems which can control the smart devices around your home. You can ask these devices to start making coffee, dim the lights when they’re too bright or even make sure the house is secure. You can inquire as to the weather outside, ask them to blare out music or search the internet for you when you have a burning question about history or the latest cooking recipes. Some of these devices even have a sense of humour, and upon asking them certain questions, they will retort. In short, in some ways, they can act as company.

但是智能设备和人工智能是有区别的。智能设备是执行任务的东西，而人工智能可以“思考”或交互，并可用于控制智能设备。有许多语音激活的人工智能系统可以控制你家周围的智能设备。你可以让这些设备开始煮咖啡，在它们太亮时调暗灯光，甚至确保房子安全。当您对历史或最新的烹饪食谱有疑问时，您可以询问外面的天气，让他们大声播放音乐或在互联网上搜索您。其中一些设备甚至具有幽默感，当向他们提出某些问题时，他们会反驳。简而言之，在某些方面，他们可以充当公司。

But how far will it go? Well, we already have self-driving cars and sentient tech that can automatically order the delivery of certain products to restock our fridge when we’re running low, but often in films and games we see humanoid robots taking over all of the domestic duties. It seems for now, that those things only live in our imaginations, but we could be seeing them sooner than we think.

但它会走多远？好吧，我们已经有了自动驾驶汽车和有感知能力的技术，可以在我们的冰箱用完时自动订购某些产品以补充我们的冰箱，但在电影和游戏中，我们经常看到人形机器人接管了所有的家务。目前看来，这些东西只存在于我们的想象中，但我们可能会比我们想象的更早看到它们。

词汇表

impact 影响
arduous 费力的
free up 腾出（时间）
piping hot 滚烫的，热气腾腾的
spotless 一尘不染的
vacuum 用吸尘器清扫
temperature 温度
pre-program 预设
automate 使自动化
voice-activated 声控的
dim 调暗
secure 安全的
blare out 大声播放
self-driving 自动驾驶
sentient 有感应力的，智能的
restock 给（冰箱）补充食物
run low 快用完
humanoid 人形机器人