机器人能照顾我们吗？
Can robots care for us?
Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Rob.
大家好，这里是六分钟英语。我是罗伯。
And joining me to do this is Sam.
本期和我搭档的是萨姆。
Hello.
大家好。
In this programme, we’re talking about robots.
在这个节目中，我们将谈论机器人。
Robots can perform many tasks,
机器人可以完成很多任务，
but they’re now being introduced in social care to operate as carers, to look after the sick and elderly.
但现在它们被引进到社会照顾服务，作为看护者来照顾病人和老人。
We’ll be discussing the positive and negative issues around this.
我们将讨论这个问题的积极方面和消极方面。
But first, let’s set you a question to answer, Sam. Are you ready for this?
但是首先，让我们设置一个问题来让你回答，萨姆。你准备好了吗？
Fire away.
放马过来。
Do you know in which year was the first commercial robot built?
你知道首个商用机器人是在哪一年被制造出来的吗？
Was it in … a) 1944, b) 1954, or c) 1964?
是a) 1944年，b) 1954年，还是c) 1964年？
They’re not a brand new invention, so I’ll go for 1954.
它们不是一个全新的发明，所以我选1954年。
OK, well I’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong, at the end of the programme.
好的，我将在节目最后告诉你是对是错。
So, let’s talk more about robots, and specifically ones that are designed to care for people.
所以，让我们多谈谈机器人吧，特别是那些为照顾人而设计的机器人。
Traditionally, it’s humans working as nurses or carers who take care of elderly people
传统上是护士或看护者照顾老人
- those people who are too old or too unwell to look after themselves.
——那些年纪太大或身体不好以至于不能照顾自己的人。
But finding enough carers to look after people is a problem – there are more people needing care than there are people who can help.
但是找到足够的看护者来照顾这些人是一个问题——需要照顾的人比能够提供帮助的人要多。
And recently in the UK, the government announced a £34 million fund to help develop robots to look after us in our later years.
最近在英国，政府宣布了一笔3400万英镑的资金来帮助开发能够在我们晚年照顾我们的机器人。
Well, robot carers are being developed but can they really learn enough empathy to take care of the elderly and unwell?
嗯，机器人看护者正在被开发，但它们真的能学会足够的同感能力来照顾老人和身体不舒服的人吗？
Empathy is the ability to understand how someone feels by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation.
同感能力是通过想象他人处境来理解他人感受的一种能力。
Well, let’s hear about one of these new robots now, called Pepper.
好的，现在让我们来听听其中一款叫做佩珀的新型机器人。
Abbey Hearn-Nagaf is a research assistant at the University of Bedfordshire.
艾比· 赫恩-拿赫夫是贝德福德大学的研究助理。
She spoke to BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme and explained how Pepper is first introduced to someone in a care home…
她在BBC广播4频道的You and Yours节目中解释了佩珀是如何被引进到养老院的……
We just bring the robot to their room.
我们只是把机器人带到他们的房间。
And we talk about what Pepper can't do, which is important so we can't provide physical assistance in any way.
我们是讨论佩珀不能做什么，这很重要，所以我们不会以任何方式提供物理帮助。
It does have hands, it can wave...
它有手，可以挥动……
when you ask for privacy, it does turn around and sort of cover its eyes with its hands but that's the most it does.
当你要求隐私时，它会转过身去，用手遮住眼睛，但那是它做得最多的。
It doesn't grip anything, it doesn't move anything because we're more interested to see how it works as a companion - having something there to talk to, to converse with, to interact with.
它不会抓住什么东西，它也不会移动什么东西，因为我们更感兴趣的是它作为一个同伴是如何工作的——可以说些什么，交谈些什么，互动些什么。
So, Abbey described how the robot is introduced to someone.
所以艾比描述了机器人是如何被介绍给别人的。
She was keen to point out that this robot has limitations – things it can’t do.
她敏锐地指出这个机器人有局限性——它有做不到的事情。
It can wave or turn round when a person needs privacy – to be private – but it can’t provide physical assistance.
当一个人需要隐私——需要保持私密时，它可以挥手捂眼睛或转身，但它不能提供物理帮助。
This means it can’t help someone by touching or feeling them.
这意味着它无法通过触摸或感觉来帮助某人。
But that’s OK, Abbey says.
不过艾比说那没关系。
This robot is designed to be a companion
这个机器人被设计为一个同伴
– someone who is with you to keep you company - a friend in other words that you can converse or talk with.
——一个陪伴着你的人——换句话说，一个你可以与之对话或交谈的朋友。
Well, having a companion is a good way to stop people getting lonely, but surely a human is better for that
嗯，有个同伴是防止人们感到孤独的好方法，但人类肯定更适合做同伴
– surely they understand you better than a robot ever can?
——他们肯定比机器人更了解你吧？
Well, innovation means that robots are becoming cleverer over time.
好吧，创新意味着随着时间的推移，机器人变得越来越聪明。
And as we’ve mentioned, in the UK alone there is a growing elderly population and more than 100,000 care assistant vacancies.
正如我们所提到的，仅在英国，老年人口就在增长，护理助理职位空缺就超过10万个。
Who is going to do all the work?
谁来做所有的工作？
I think we should hear from Dr Sarah Woodin, a health researcher in independent living from Leeds University,
我想我们应该听听来自利兹大学独立生活健康研究员萨拉·伍德博士的观点，
who also spoke to the BBC’s You and Yours programme.
她也接受了You and Yours节目的采访。
She seems more realistic about the introduction of robot carers.
她对引进机器人看护者这一想法似乎更现实一些。
I think there are problems if we consider robots as replacement for people.
我觉得如果我们认为机器人可以代替人类，那就有问题了。
We know that money is tight
我们知道资金紧张
- if robots become mass-produced there could be large institutions where people might be housed and abandoned to robots ...
——如果机器人大量生产，可能会出现大型机构，人们可能被安置在那里，并被遗弃给机器人……
I do think questions of ethics need to come into the growth and jobs agenda as well because sometimes they're treated very separately.
我确实认为经济增长和就业问题也需要考虑到道德问题，因为有时它们被分别对待。
OK, so Sarah Woodin suggests that when money is tight – meaning there is only just enough
好的，所以萨拉·伍德认为，当资金紧张时——指的是也就刚好够用的时候
- making robots in large quantities – or mass-produced – might be a cheaper option than using humans.
——大批量或者大量生产机器人可能是比使用人工更便宜的选择。
And she says people might be abandoned to robots.
她说人们可能会被遗弃给机器人。
Yes, abandoned means left alone in a place, usually forever.
是的，被遗弃意味着被留在一个地方，通常是永远。
So she says it might be possible that someone ends up being forgotten and only having a robot to care for them.
所以她说可能有人最终被遗忘，只有一个机器人来照顾他们。
So is this right, ethically?
这在道德上是对的吗？
Yes well, she mentions ethics – that’s what is morally right – and that needs to be considered as part of the jobs agenda.
是的，她提到了伦理观——那是说在道德上是正确的——那需要被视为工作议程的一部分。
So, we shouldn’t just consider what jobs vacancies need filling but who and how it should be done.
所以，我们不应该只考虑需要填补什么职位空缺，而是应该考虑谁来填补以及如何填补。
And earlier I asked you, Sam, did you know in which year was the first commercial robot built?
早些时候我问你，萨姆，你知道首个商用机器人是在哪一年被制造的吗？
And you said?
你说……
I said 1954.
我说是1954年。
Well you didn’t need a robot to help you there because you are right.
好吧，你不需要机器人来帮你，因为你的答案是对的。
Well done!
做得好！
Now let’s do something a robot can’t do yet, and that’s recap the vocabulary we’ve highlighted today, starting with empathy.
现在让我们来做一些机器人做不了的事情，那就是回顾我们今天所强调的词汇，从“同感能力”开始。
Empathy is the ability to understand how someone feels by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation.
同感能力是通过想象他人处境来理解他人感受的能力。
Physical assistance describes helping someone by touching them.
物理帮助是指通过触碰别人来帮助他们。
We also mention a companion – that’s someone who is with you and keeps you company.
我们还提到了“同伴”——那是指和你在一起，陪伴你的人。
Our next word was tight – in the context of money, when money is tight it means there is not enough.
我们的下一个单词是“tight”，在金钱这个语境下，资金紧张的意思是钱不够。
Abandoned means left alone in a place, usually forever.
被遗弃的意思是被留在一个地方，通常是永远。
And finally, we discussed the word ethics – we hear a lot about business ethics or medical ethics – and it means the study of what is morally right.
最后，我们讨论了伦理观这个词——我们经常听到很多关于商业伦理或医学伦理的东西——它指的是研究什么在道德上是对的。
OK, thank you, Sam.
好的，谢谢你，萨姆。
Well, we’ve managed to get through 6 Minute English without the aid of a robot.
我们在没有机器人帮助的情况下成功地完成了六分钟英语。
That’s all for now but please join us again soon.
以上就是本期节目的所有内容，下次再加入我们啊。
Goodbye!
再见！
Bye bye everyone!
再见了，各位！