介绍:
Will robots take our jobs?
机器人会取代我们工作吗？
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是尼尔。
… and I’m Finn. Hello.
大家好，我是芬恩。
Hello there, Finn. Now, what do you know about robots?
你好，芬恩。你对机器人了解多少？
Robots? Well, (Finn does an impression of a robot voice) they talk in a funny way… like that!
机器人？（芬恩模仿了机器人声）他们说话很有意思，就像这样！
Yes. You sound quite convincing there actually, Finn.
你学的很像，很有说服力。
Do you like it?
你喜欢吗？
Yes, I do. Is there anything else you know about robots?
是的。关于机器人，你还知道什么呢？
Well, there are… there are a couple of good ones in the Star Wars, aren’t there?
《星球大战》中有几个很棒的机器人，不是吗？
Oh, yes. R2-D2 and C-3PO.C-3PO talks in quite a human voice.
没错。R2-D2和C-3PO。C-3PO说话的声音和人类很像。
He does. But of course that’s science fiction not real life.
确实如此。但那是科幻小说，并不是真实的生活。
No. But things have moved on in real life. The use of machines to do work that people do or used to do is called automation and that’s the subject of today’s show.
是的。但有些事情也会在现实生活中发生。使用机器做人类平时或过去做的工作，这被称为自动化，也是今天节目谈论的主题。
But before we talk more about this, l’d like you, Neil, to answer today’s quiz question.What makes a job more likely to be done by robots? Is it if a job involves…a) manipulating small objects? b) working in open spaces? Or c) social and emotional skills?
在谈论这个话题前，我想邀请你回答今天的问题。什么样的工作更适合机器人做？是涉及什么样的工作呢？a) 操作小物件的工作？b)在露天场所工作?c) 涉及社交和情感技巧的工作?
Hmm… OK. Well, I’m going to guess. At manipulating small objects, I think.
我猜一下。我认为是a) 操作小物件的工作。
Interesting. OK, we’ll find out if you’re right or wrong later on. Now, two UK academics have calculated how susceptible to – that means likely to be affected by – how susceptible to automation each job is based on some key skills. And these include negotiation, persuasion, caring for others, originality, and manual dexterity – now that means being good with your hands.
有意思。节目的最后我们再看你回答得是否正确。如今，两名英国学者估算根据每份工作需要的关键技能，最容易受自动化影响的工作是什么。这些技能包括协商、说服、照顾他人、创意、动手能力（也可以说是心灵手巧）。
So do you think intelligent machines could replace us?
所以你认为智能机器可以取代我们？
Well, maybe you, Neil. Not me, no. I have all the key skills you know – I’m original… persuasive… of course very caring and very good with my hands as well, I think.
也许能取代你，但不能取代我。我掌握所有的关键技能，像我很有创意、很有说服力、很会照顾人、动手能力也强。
Well I’m very glad that you’re safe, Finn!
我很欣慰，你很安全。
Thank you.
谢谢。
However, a study from Oxford University has suggested that 35% of existing UK jobs are being automated in the next 20 years. Let’s listen to Michael Osborne from Oxford University talking about this.
言归正传，牛津大学的一项研究显示英国现有工作中35%都将在20年内实现自动化。我们听听牛津大学Michael Osborne就此事的看法。
Computers are increasingly able to learn in a way that in short has been a reserve of human beings. So in their ability to learn, computers are able to perform a much wider range of tasks than they’ve been able to do in the past. So as a result it’s not just manual labour that’s coming under threat of automation. It’s increasingly cognitive labour – the labour of the mind.
计算机的学习能力不断加强，成为人类力量的储备。因为具备学习能力，相比之前，计算机可以完成更多的任务。因此，不但体力劳动会遭遇自动化的威胁。认知劳动，即脑力劳动也会遭遇威胁。
Michael Osborne. And cognitive labour means using your noggin – that’s using or head! So computers and machines are using their noggins and getting smarter.And office workers who do repetitive jobs such as drawing up spreadsheets could be replaced with software.But surely jobs like being a doctor or a lawyer are safe, Neil?
这就是Michael Osborne的看法。脑力劳动，就是利用你的头脑。计算机和机器也是使用它们的电子头脑，变得越来越智能。一些上班族经常做重复的工作，例如起草电子表格，这些工作可以用软件来替代。但是医生或律师这样的工作还是很安全的，不是吗？
Well, some white-collar jobs may be less safe than you think. At one city law firm junior staff have to read through contracts, assessing them for risks. But now an artificial intelligence programme can do that faster and better.
白领的工作没你想象的那么保险。某城市的律所，初级员工需要浏览合同、评估风险。但是如今人工智能程序可以做的又快又好。
So white collar refers to a job that you do at an office rather than a factory. And artificial intelligence refers to a computer’s ability to copy intelligent human behaviour. Now let’s listen to Matthew Whalley from a city law firm to find out what he thinks.
白领是指在办公室而非工厂工作的人。人工智能是指电脑复制人类智慧行为的能力。我们来听听律所Matthew Whalley的意见。
What you’re seeing the robot do now, the robot can do in three seconds what would take a group of lawyers days to do.And the advantage is that it can do huge volumes, incredibly reliably in unbelievable times. There is a huge amount of this work to do and lawyers have far better higher-value legal analysis to worry about.
你所见的机器人现在能做的事，机器人花三秒时间就能完成一组律师要花费几天才能完成的事。而且优点在于机器人能够浏览大量案卷，次数之多简直不可思议。律师这份职业有很多工作要做，律师们要担心更有价值的法律分析问题。
Well he thinks that there is work for the lawyers and the computers. In fact it sounds like a good division of labour – the computers do the boring stuff and the lawyers do the more interesting work!
他谈及律师和计算机各自需要处理的工作。事实上听起来像劳动分工，电脑处理无聊的事情，律师做更有意思的工作。
Yes. Well, let’s keep our fingers crossed that we’ve got good prospects. You know, I don’t want our listeners to (robot voice) start listening to robot presenters any time soon!
让我们双手合十祈祷，我们都能有好的前景。我可不想我们的听众倾听机器主持人主持节目。
Indeed, we need! We talk about keeping our fingers crossed when we hope that things are going to turn out in the way we want them to in the future.
确实，我们需要祈祷。我们刚刚提到双手合十祈祷，这是指我们希望未来按照我们想要的方式发展。
That’s right. So shall we hear the answer to today’s quiz question? Neil, I asked you: What makes a job more likely to be done by robots? Is it if a job involves… a) manipulating small objects? b) working in open spaces? Or c) social and emotional skills?
没错。现在公布今天问题的答案吧？问题是什么样的工作更适合机器人做？a) 操作小物件的工作？b)在露天场所工作?c) 涉及社交和情感技巧的工作?
Well, I said a) manipulating small objects... and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ve got the right answer.
我选的是a) 操作小物件的工作。让我双手合十，祈祷我答对了。
OK. You’re keeping them crossed?
好的，你已经开始祈祷了吗？
Yes, I am.
是的。
You’ve got the answer right! Well done!
你答对了！做的不错！
Brilliant! I’m glad my cognitive skills are still functioning. Now, how about hearing those words again?
太棒了！很欣慰我的认知能力还在运作。现在再听一遍单词？
OK, the words we heard today were:
好的，今天听到的单词有：
automation
自动化
susceptible to
易受影响
manual dexterity
动手能力
cognitive labour
脑力劳动
noggin
头脑
white collar
白领
artificial intelligence (AI)
人工智能
and … keeping your fingers crossed
双手合十祈祷
Well, that brings us to the end of this 6 Minute English. We hope you enjoyed the programme. Please join us again soon.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。希望你喜欢今天的节目。下次再会！
Bye.
再见。
