美国国家公共电台 NPR--What will AI mean for the popular app Be My Eyes?

What will AI mean for the popular app Be My Eyes?

Transcript¹

Brian Fischler is blind. He can tell whether it's light or dark outside, but that's about it.

"I grew up sighted like everybody, and I was diagnosed at 13 with retinitis pigmentosa," Fischler says. "And for me, the lights went out about 2009."

Fischler, a New York-based standup comedian² and podcaster, has used the app Be My Eyes since it first came out eight years ago.

It relies on sighted volunteers to do tasks like describe holiday cards sent in the mail, or tell you whether that can in your cupboard is coconut³ milk or chicken soup.

Or, in Fischler's case, to find an address in New York. "Here in New York City, you have a lot of businesses right on top of each other," Fischler says. "My guide dog can get me close to where I want to go, but he doesn't necessarily know what door I want to go to, especially if it's my first time going to a business."

The eyes of Be My Eyes? They come from the site's more than 6 million volunteers.

One of them is Steven Ellis of Goldsboro, North Carolina. Because he has visually impaired⁴ family members, he learned about the challenges of getting through life without the use of all five senses. When he signed up to volunteer for the app, Ellis connected with a user who couldn't connect his TV. The only way to tell the wires apart was by differentiating⁵ them by color, and he couldn't see.

Hans J?rgen Wiberg, a Danish furniture craftsman⁶, created the app after he got tired of calling his friends and family to ask for help identifying things. (Wiberg is visually impaired.) He spent a couple years developing it, and the app launched in 2015.

But eight years later, there's a twist. As artificial intelligence, or AI, becomes more accessible, app creators are experimenting with an AI version using tech as well as human volunteers. Be My Eyes CEO Mike Buckley says the argument for AI is that it can do things people cannot.

"What if the AI ingested every service manual of every consumer product ever?," says Buckley. "And so you could tap into the AI and say, 'How do I hook up my Sony stereo?'" Furthermore, Buckley says, "we took a picture of our refrigerator and it not only told us what all the ingredients were but it told us what we could make for dinner."

But, he insists that AI won't completely replace the volunteers who make Be My Eyes so popular.

"I hope it ends up being 50-50 because I do think that there is going to be a desire for continued human connection," Buckley says. "There's some volunteer feedback we've gotten [that] when they actually get a call they talk about it as the best day of their week."

Brian Fischler, the stand-up comedian, is among a handful of users given early access to the AI portion of Be My Eyes. That part of the app is set to launch in a few months. So far, Fischler is impressed by its speed.

"It goes so above and beyond," he says. "It scanned the entire menu. But then I was able to ask follow up questions. I was in the mood for chicken and I was able to say, 'Just read me the chicken dishes.'"

But Fischler considers the AI portion to be a good complement⁷ to the app's human volunteers, rather than a replacement⁸ of them.

"I was a Terminator 2 kind of a guy where the machines rose up and they weren't exactly lovely and cuddly⁹ and helping¹⁰ us," Fischler says, referring to the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment¹¹ Day. "So to have a tool like this which is going to be so valuable to so many millions of people around the world, and the fact that it's free is really, absolutely spectacular."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

3 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

4 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 differentiating   

[计] 微分的

参考例句：

• They succeed in differentiating the most commodity-like products. 在最通用的日用产品方面，它们也能独树一帜标新立异。
• The simplest and most effective method of differentiating areas is to use different colours. 区别面状要素最简单而又行之有效的办法，是使用不同的颜色。

6 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

7 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

8 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

9 cuddly   

adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的

参考例句：

• The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad is so cuddly.爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床真舒服。
• You can't call a hedgehog cuddly.你不能说刺猬逗人喜爱。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。