双语新闻：我们需要类人机器人吗

Building a robot that is both human-like and useful has been a goal of engineers for many years.

制造一个既像人又有用的机器人是工程师们多年来的目标。

Interest in the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) has created another wave of investment in robot technology to build a human-like robot. But most of the current robot models that aim to look like people are not too effective. They appear to work well in planned performances but not in real life. However, this has not stopped some startups from continuing to develop human-like, or humanoid, robots.

对人工智能(AI)概念的兴趣引发了另一波对机器人技术的投资，以制造类人机器人。但目前大多数以模仿人类为目标的机器人模型效果都不太好。他们似乎在计划好的演出中工作得很好，但在现实生活中却并非如此。然而，这并没有阻止一些初创公司继续开发类人机器人。

"The intention is not to start from the beginning,'" said Jonathan Hurst. He is co-founder and chief robot officer at Agility Robotics. "We're trying to make robots that can operate in human spaces."

赫斯特说:“我们的目的不是从头开始。他是Agility Robotics的联合创始人兼首席机器人官。“我们正在努力制造可以在人类空间工作的机器人。”

Hurst said Agility's robot Digit is designed to do human things. It is not designed to look like a human.

赫斯特说，Agility的机器人Digit被设计用来做人类的事情。它不是设计成人形的。

What it does is pick up objects and move them. Amazon announced in October that the company will begin testing the Digit robot for use in some of its storage buildings. Agility opened a factory in the western state of Oregon in September to mass produce their robot.

它所做的就是捡起物体并移动它们。亚马逊去年10月宣布，该公司将开始在一些仓储建筑中测试Digit机器人。今年9月，Agility在西部的俄勒冈州开设了一家工厂，大规模生产他们的机器人。

Digit has a head containing cameras, other sensors, animated eyes, and an upper body that provides power. It has two arms and two legs, but its legs are not human-like. It looks similar to cats and dogs that walk on the very end of their feet, rather than on flat feet.

Digit的头部装有摄像头、其他传感器、动画眼睛和提供动力的上半身。它有两条胳膊和两条腿，但它的腿不像人类。它看起来类似于猫和狗用脚的最末端行走，而不是用平足行走。

Competing robot-makers, like Figure AI, are designing robots differently. The company believes that only human-like robots can effectively work in places built for humans.

与之竞争的机器人制造商，如图人工智能，正在以不同的方式设计机器人。该公司认为，只有类人机器人才能在为人类建造的地方有效地工作。

Figure AI also plans to start developing robots for simpler uses. But it aims to build robots that can perform more than one job to help take over work from humans.

图人工智能还计划开始开发更简单用途的机器人。但它的目标是制造可以完成多项工作的机器人，以帮助取代人类的工作。

"There's not enough people doing these jobs, so the market's massive," said Figure AI chief Brett Adcock. He said he believes his company can sell millions or even billions of humanoid robots if it can make a robot do a human's work.

Figure AI首席执行官布雷特·阿德科克表示:“做这些工作的人不够多，所以市场很大。”他说，他相信，如果能让机器人做人类的工作，他的公司就能卖出数百万甚至数十亿台人形机器人。

At the moment, however, Adcock's company does not have a model that is ready. The company was founded just over a year ago after it raised tens of millions of dollars. Figure AI released a 38-second video of its robot, Figure, walking through its building in California.

然而，目前阿德科克的公司还没有现成的模式。该公司在筹集了数千万美元后于一年前成立。Figure AI发布了一段38秒的视频，视频中它的机器人Figure走过位于加州的大楼。

Elon Musk, head of Tesla, is also trying to build a human-like robot, called Optimus, in the electric carmaker's robotics division. But a presentation of the robot's walking last year did not win over experts in the field.

特斯拉首席执行官埃隆•马斯克也在这家电动汽车制造商的机器人部门尝试制造一款名为Optimus的人形机器人。但去年机器人的行走演示并没有赢得该领域专家的支持。

Agility's Digit robot caught Amazon's attention because it can walk and move in a way that would work well with the robots the company already uses. Those robots look like vehicles and work in large buildings carrying heavy loads.

Agility的Digit机器人引起了亚马逊的注意，因为它可以走路和移动，与该公司已经使用的机器人很好地配合。这些机器人看起来像车辆，在大型建筑中搬运重物。

Tye Brady is Amazon's chief technologist for robotics. He said the way the robot moves "is more interesting" than the way it looks.

泰·布雷迪是亚马逊的首席机器人技术专家。他说，机器人的移动方式比它的外观“更有趣”。

Agility Robotics co-founder and chief Damion Shelton said its Digit robot is "just the first use case" of a new generation of robots. He hopes people will embrace robots rather than fear them as they enter businesses and homes.

Agility Robotics联合创始人兼首席执行官达米恩·谢尔顿表示，他们的Digit机器人只是新一代机器人的“第一个用例”。他希望当机器人进入企业和家庭时，人们会拥抱它们，而不是害怕它们。

"So, in 10, 20 years, you're going to see these robots everywhere," Shelton said. He added: "...Human-centric robots like that are going to be part of human life."

谢尔顿说:“所以，在10年、20年内，你会看到这些机器人无处不在。”他补充道:“……像这样以人为中心的机器人将成为人类生活的一部分。”