VOA时事新闻2023 我们需要人型机器人吗?（在线收听）

我们需要人型机器人吗?

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

制造既形似人类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.

对人工智能概念的兴趣引发了另一波对制造人型机器人的机器人技术的投资。

But most of the current robot models that aim to look like people are not too effective.

但目前大多数旨在模仿人类的机器人模型效果都不太好。

They appear to work well in planned performances but not in real life.

它们似乎在计划好的性能方面表现得很好，但在现实生活中却并非如此。

However, this has not stopped some startups from continuing to develop human-like, or humanoid, robots.

然而，这并没有阻止一些初创公司继续开发人型机器人。

"The intention is not to start from the beginning," said Jonathan Hurst.

乔纳森·赫斯特说：“我们的目的不是从头开始。”

He is co-founder and chief robot officer at Agility Robotics.

他是Agility Robotics的联合创始人兼机器人首席执行官。

"We're trying to make robots that can operate in human spaces."

“我们正在努力制造能够在人类空间中运行的机器人。”

Hurst said Agility's robot Digit is designed to do human things.

赫斯特说，Agility的机器人Digit是为做人类的事情而设计的。

It is not designed to look like a human.

它不是被设计成形似人类的。

What it does is pick up objects and move them.

它所做的就是捡起物体并移动它们。

Amazon announced in October that the company will begin testing the Digit robot for use in some of its storage buildings.

亚马逊在10月份宣布，该公司将开始在其一些仓储建筑中测试机器人Digit。

Agility opened a factory in the western state of Oregon in September to mass produce their robot.

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.

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。

It has two arms and two legs, but its legs are not human-like.

它有两条胳膊和两条腿，但它的腿不像人类的腿。

It looks similar to cats and dogs that walk on the very end of their feet, rather than on flat feet.

它走路看起来很像猫和狗一样用脚尖着地，而不是脚掌着地行走。

Competing robot-makers, like Figure AI, are designing robots differently.

与之竞争的机器人制造商，如Figure AI，正在以不同的方式设计机器人。

The company believes that only human-like robots can effectively work in places built for humans.

该公司认为，只有人型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.

Figure AI还计划开始开发更简单用途的机器人。

But it aims to build robots that can perform more than one job to help take over work from humans.

但它的目标是制造能够执行多项工作的机器人，以帮助接替人类的工作。

"There's not enough people doing these jobs, so the market's massive," said Figure AI chief Brett Adcock.

Figure AI的首席执行官布雷特·阿德科克说：“做这些工作的人不够多，所以市场很大。”

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.

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型机器人。

At the moment, however, Adcock's company does not have a model that is ready.

然而，目前阿德科克的公司还没有现成的模式。

The company was founded just over a year ago after it raised tens of millions of dollars.

这家公司在筹集了数千万美元后于一年多前成立。

Figure AI released a 38-second video of its robot, Figure, walking through its building in California.

Figure AI发布了一段38秒的视频，视频中，它的机器人Figure走过其位于加利福尼亚州的大楼。

Elon Musk, head of Tesla, is also trying to build a human-like robot, called Optimus, in the electric carmaker's robotics division.

特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克也正试图在这家电动汽车制造商的机器人部门制造一款人型机器人，名为Optimus。

But a presentation of the robot's walking last year did not win over experts in the field.

但去年该机器人行走的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.

Agility的机器人Digit引起了亚马逊的注意，因为它可以行走和移动，与该公司已经使用的机器人配合得很好。

Those robots look like vehicles and work in large buildings carrying heavy loads.

这些机器人看起来像汽车，在大型建筑物中搬运重物。

Tye Brady is Amazon's chief technologist for robotics.

泰伊·布雷迪是亚马逊的机器人首席技术专家。

He said the way the robot moves "is more interesting" than the way it looks.

他说，这款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.

Agility Robotics联合创始人兼首席执行官达米恩·谢尔顿表示，该公司的机器人Digit只是新一代机器人的“第一个用例”。

He hopes people will embrace robots rather than fear them as they enter businesses and homes.

他希望人们在机器人进入企业和家庭时能拥抱它们，而不是害怕它们。

"So, in 10, 20 years, you're going to see these robots everywhere," Shelton said.

谢尔顿说：“所以，在10年、20年内，你将会看到这些机器人无处不在。”

He added: "…Human-centric robots like that are going to be part of human life."

他补充说：“像这样以人类为中心的机器人将成为人类生活的一部分。”