Now we are talking.

来源：http://econ.st/2iL7HZL

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ANY sufficiently/sə'fɪʃəntlɪ/ advanced technology, noted Arthur C. Clarke, a British science-fiction writer, is indistinguishable/'ɪndɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃəbl/ from magic. The fast-emerging technology of voice computing proves his point. Using it is just like casting/kæst/ a spell: say a few words into the air, and a nearby device can grant your wish.

The Amazon Echo, a voice-driven cylindrical /sə'lɪndrɪkl/ computer that sits on a table top and answers to the name Alexa, can call up music tracks and radio stations, tell jokes, answer trivia/‘trɪvɪə/ questions and control smart appliances; even before Christmas it was already resident /'rɛzɪdənt/ in about 4% of American households. Voice assistants are proliferating /prə'lɪfə'ret/ in smartphones, too: Apple's Siri handles over 2bn commands a week, and 20% of Google searches on Android-powered handsets in America are input by voice. Dictating/dɪk'tet/ e-mails and text messages now works reliably /rɪˈlaɪəblɪ/ enough to be useful. Why type when you can talk?

This is a huge shift. Simple though it may seem, voice has the power to transform computing, by providing a natural means of interaction. Windows, icons and menus, and then touchscreens, were welcomed as more intuitive ways to deal with computers than entering complex keyboard commands. But being able to talk to computers abolishes /ə’bɑlɪʃ/ the need for the abstraction of a “user interface” at all. Just as mobile phones were more than existing phones without wires, and cars were more than carriages /'kærɪdʒ/without horses, so computers without screens and keyboards have the potential to be more useful, powerful and ubiquitous /ju'bɪkwɪtəs/ than people can imagine today.

ubiquitous /ju’bɪkwɪtəs/

* adj. 普遍存在的；无所不在的

Voice will not wholly /'holli/ replace other forms of input and output. Sometimes it will remain more convenient to converse /kən'vɝs/ with a machine by typing rather than talking (Amazon is said to be working on an Echo device with a built-in screen). But voice is destined/'dɛstɪnd/ to account for a growing share of people's interactions with the technology around them, from washing machines that tell you how much of the cycle they have left to virtual assistants in corporate call centres/'sentə/. However, to reach its full potential, the technology requires further breakthroughs-and a resolution of the tricky/ˈtrɪki/ questions it raises around the trade-off between convenience and privacy.

wholly /'holli/

* adv. 完全地；全部；统统

* converse /kən'vɝs/

* adj. 相反的，逆向的；颠倒的

* vi. 交谈，谈话；认识

* n. 逆行，逆向；倒；相反的事物

* n. (Converse)人名；(英)康弗斯

* destined/‘dɛstɪnd/

* adj. 注定的；命定的；去往…的

* v. 注定（destine的过去式和过去分词）

* centres/'sentə/

* n. 中心；中心机构（centre的复数）

* tricky/ˈtrɪki/

ADJ If you describe a task or problem as tricky, you mean that it is difficult to do or deal with. 难对付的

Alexa, what is deep learning?

Computer-dictation /dɪk'teʃən/ systems have been around for years. But they were unreliable /ˌʌnrɪ'laɪəbl/ and required lengthy/'lɛŋθi/ training to learn a specific user's voice. Computers' new ability to recognise almost anyone's speech dependably/di'pendəbli/ without training is the latest manifestation /'mænəfɛ'steʃən/ of the power of “deep learning”, an artificial-intelligence technique in which a software system is trained using millions of examples, usually culled /kʌl/ from the internet. Thanks to deep learning, machines now nearly equal humans in transcription /træn'skrɪpʃən/ accuracy, computerized translation systems are improving rapidly and text- to-speech systems are becoming less robotic /ro'bɑtɪk/ and more natural-sounding. Computers are, in short, getting much better at handling natural language in all its forms.

dictation /dɪk’teʃən/ N-UNCOUNTDictation is the speaking or reading aloud of words for someone else to write down. 口授; 听写

manifestation /‘mænəfɛ'steʃən/

* n. 表现；显示；示威运动

* culled /kʌl/ fromvt. 挑选, 剔除

Although deep learning means that machines can recognise speech more reliably and talk in a less stilted /'stɪltɪd/ manner, they still don't understand the meaning of language. That is the most difficult aspect of the problem and, if voice-driven computing is truly to flourish/'flɝɪʃ/, one that must be overcome. Computers must be able to understand context in order to maintain a coherent  /ko’hɪrənt/ conversation about something, rather than just responding to simple, one-off voice commands, as they mostly do today (“Hey, Siri, set a timer for ten minutes”). Researchers in universities and at companies large and small are working on this very problem, building “bots” that can hold more elaborate /ɪ'læbəret/ conversations about more complex tasks, from retrieving /rɪ'triv/ information to advising on mortgages /'mɔrɡɪdʒ/ to making travel arrangements /ə'rendʒmənt/. (Amazon is offering a $1m prize for a bot that can converse “coherently and engagingly /in'geidʒiŋli/” for 20 minutes.)

stilted /'stɪltɪd/

* adj. 不自然的；呆板的；僵硬的

* v. 使踩高跷（stilt的过去分词）

* flourish/'flɝɪʃ/

* n. 兴旺；茂盛；挥舞；炫耀；华饰

* vt. 夸耀；挥舞

* vi. 繁荣，兴旺；茂盛；活跃；处于旺盛时期

* coherent  /ko’hɪrənt/

* adj. 连贯的，一致的；明了的；清晰的；凝聚性的；互相耦合的；粘在一起的

* elaborate /ɪ'læbəret/

* adj. 精心制作的；详尽的；煞费苦心的

* vt. 精心制作；详细阐述；从简单成分合成（复杂有机物）

* vi. 详细描述；变复杂

* mortgages /‘mɔrɡɪdʒ/

* vt. 抵押

* n. 抵押

* 房屋抵押贷款

* arrangements /ə'rendʒmənt/.

* n. 布置；整理；准备

* engagingly /in'geidʒiŋli/

* adv. 动人地；吸引人地

When spells replace spelling

Consumers and regulators /'rɛɡjuletɚ/ also have a role to play in determining how voice computing develops. Even in its current, relatively primitive /'prɪmətɪv/ form, the technology poses a dilemma /dɪˈlɛmə/: voice-driven systems are most useful when they are personalised /'pə:sənəlaiz/, and are granted/ˈɡræntɪd/ wide access to sources of data such as calendars, e-mails and other sensitive information. That raises privacy and security concerns.

regulators /‘rɛɡjuletɚ/

* n. 调整者；监管者；校准器

* primitive /'prɪmətɪv/

* adj. 原始的，远古的；简单的，粗糙的

* n. 原始人

* dilemma /dɪˈlɛmə/

* n. 困境；进退两难；两刀论法

* granted/ˈɡræntɪd/

* 准予

To further complicate matters, many voice-driven devices are always listening, waiting to be activated. Some people are already concerned about the implications of internet-connected micro-phones listening in every room and from every smartphone. Not all audio is sent to the cloud-devices wait for a trigger phrase (“Alexa”, “OK, Google”, “Hey, Cortana”, or “Hey, Siri”) before they start relaying/rɪ'le/ the user's voice to the servers that actually handle the requests-but when it comes to storing audio, it is unclear who keeps what and when.

relaying/rɪ’le

* n. 继电保护；[广播][电视] 转播；中继利用

* v. 分程传递；使接替；中继转发（relay的ing形式）

* relay

* vt. 转播；使接替；分程传递

Police investigating a murder in Arkansas /ˈɑrkənˌsɔ/, which may have been overheard by an Amazon Echo, have asked the company for access to any audio that might have been captured. Amazon has refused to co-operate, arguing (with the backing of privacy advocates/'ædvəkət/) that the legal status of such requests is unclear. The situation is analogous /ə'næləɡəs/ to Apple's refusal/rɪ'fjuzl/ in 2016 to help FBI investigators unlock a terrorist's/'tɛrərɪst/ iPhone; both cases highlight the need for rules that specify /'spɛsɪfaɪ/ when and what intrusions /ɪn'truʒn/ into personal privacy are justified/'dʒʌstɪfaɪd/ in the interests of security.

overheard

* vt. （过去式）偶尔听到；无意中听到；偷听

* analogous /ə’næləɡəs/

* adj. 类似的；[昆] 同功的；可比拟的

* refusal/rɪ'fjuzl/

* n. 拒绝；优先取舍权；推却；取舍权

* intrusions /ɪn'truʒn/

* n. 侵入；闯入

* justified/'dʒʌstɪfaɪd/

* adj. 有正当理由的；合乎情理的；事出有因的

* v. 调整（justify的过去分词）；证明…正当

Consumers will adopt voice computing even if such issues remain unresolved. In many situations voice is far more convenient and natural than any other means of communication. Uniquely, it can also be used while doing something else (driving, working out or walking down the street). It can extend the power of computing to people unable, for one reason or another, to use screens and key-boards. And it could have a dramatic impact not just on computing, but on the use of language itself Computerised simultaneous /ˌsaɪml'tenɪəs/ translation could render the need to speak a foreign language irrelevant /ɪ'rɛləvənt/ for many people; and in a world where machines can talk, minor languages may be more likely to survive. The arrival of the touchscreen was the last big shift in the way humans interact with computers. The leap to speech matters more.

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Sentences

so computers without screens and keyboards have the potential to be more useful, powerful and ubiquitous /ju'bɪkwɪtəs/ than people can imagine today.

Voice will not wholly /'holli/ replace other forms of input and output.

in short, getting much better at handling natural language in all its forms.

That raises privacy and security concerns.

In many situations voice is far more convenient and natural than any other means of communication.

It can extend the power of computing to people unable, for one reason or another,