VOA慢速英语: IBM公司在人工智能研究上取得重大进展

IBM Takes A Big Step Forward in Artificial Intelligence Research

IBM公司在人工智能研究上取得重大进展

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

The American computer company IBM says it has developed a microprocessor -- a computer chip -- that works much like the human brain.

美国IBM电脑公司称，已经开发出了一种与人类大脑工作原理相似的电脑芯片。

IBM calls the chip TrueNorth. It is the size of a postage stamp. The chip has 5.4 billion tiny parts that work like the human brain's neurons and synapses. Neurons and synapses are the cells and electric forces that carry messages to and from the brain.

IBM公司将这个其命名为TrueNorth，该芯片只有邮票那么大，却含有54亿个近似人类大脑神经元和突触的微小部分。神经元和突触是人类大脑中负责传递信息的细胞核电流。

TrueNorth has 1 million neurons and 256 million synapses. The human brain has 100 billion neurons and up to 150 trillion synapses. IBM says it can program the new chip to understand difficult problems and then solve them as humans would.

TrueNorth含有100万个神经元和2.56亿个突触。而人类的大脑有1000亿个神经元和150万亿个突触，IBM公司称，他们可以给这款新的芯片进行编程，使其能够理解各种难题，并在理解后，像人类解决难题一样解决问题。

The company says the TrueNorth chip could be used as a brain for search-and-rescue robots. It can also be used for controlling new kinds of wheelchairs or for recording conversations involving several people and then making a printed record of those conversations.

该公司称，TrueNorth芯片可以作为作为搜救机器的大脑，还能用来控制新型轮椅，或记录涉及几个人的谈话，并把谈话内容都打印出来。

TrueNorth is still being tested. But IBM says it could be available for public use in two to three years.

虽然TrueNorth芯片仍在测试阶段，但是IBM公司称，该芯片可能会在两到三年内被公众使用。

The chip is just one example of machines becoming more and more like humans. This field of study is called artificial intelligence, or AI. Some experts believe computers will someday become more intelligent than humans.

该芯片只是电脑机器变得越来越像人类的一个例子，对这一领域的研究被称为人工智能(AI).一些专家认为电脑有一天会变得比人类更聪明。

Researchers are trying to develop ways for humans and computers to work together more closely. Someday, humans and computers may be joined. The combination of a human and a computer is called a cyborg.

研究人员正在试图寻找可以让人和电脑能更加紧密的一起工作的方法。有一天，人类和电脑可能会连接起来，这种人类和电脑的结合体被称为半机械人。

Jonathan Mugan has written a book about the relationship between humans and computers, called "The Curiosity Cycle." He told VOA by email that it is time to prepare for a future where computers have more control over our lives.

乔纳森·穆甘写了一本关于人类和电脑之间关系的书，书名为《好奇心周期》。他通过电子邮件告诉美国之音，称现在是时候准备迎接一个我们的生活会受电脑控制越来越多的未来了。

In his words, "machines are technology. And technology expands as human knowledge expands. By contrast, human intelligence developed through evolution, which is a much slower process."

用他的话来说就是，“机器是科技，而科技会随着人类知识的不断扩展而扩展。而相比之下，我们人类智力虽然也在不断进化中，但是这种进化是一个缓慢得多的过程。”

Mr. Mugan believes that smarter computers are good for humans. He says intelligent machines can help humans solve many of our most difficult problems.

穆甘先生认为智能电脑对人类有好处，他称，智能电脑可以帮助人类解决很多我们所面临的最棘手的问题。

But he says "once computers become broadly smarter than humans, it's hard to predict what will happen."

但是他也说：“一旦电脑变得明显的比人类更聪明，就很难预料将会发生什么事情。”

And that's the VOA Learning English Technology Report. I'm Jonathan Evans.

这就是本期的美国之音慢速英语科技报道，我是乔纳森·埃文斯。