On Machine Intelligence 1 - 懂你英语 流利说 Level7 Unit2 Part1

So, I started my first job as a computer programmer in my very first year of college -- basically, as a teenager.

Soon after I started working, writing software in a company,

a manager who worked at the company came down to where I was,

and he whispered to me, "Can he tell if I'm lying?"

There was nobody else in the room.

"Can who tell if you're lying? And why are we whispering?"

The manager pointed at the computer in the room. "Can he tell if I'm lying?"

Well, that manager was having an affair with the receptionist. (Laughter)

And I was still a teenager.

So I whisper-shouted back to him, "Yes, the computer can tell if you're lying." (Laughter)

Well, I laughed, but actually, the laugh's on me.

Nowadays, there are computational systems that can suss out emotional states and even lies (from) by processing human faces.

Advertisers and even governments are very interested.

I have become a computer programmer because I was one of those kids crazy about math and science.

But somewhere along the line I'd learned about nuclear weapons, and I'd gotten really concerned with the ethics of science. I was troubled.

However, because of family circumstances, I also needed to start working as soon as possible.

So I thought to myself, hey, let me pick a technical field where I can get a job easily and where I don't have to deal with any troublesome questions of ethics.

So I picked computers. (Laughter)

Well, ha, ha, ha! All the laughs are on me.

Nowadays, computer scientists are building platforms that control what a billion people see every day.

They're developing cars that could decide who to run over.

They're even building machines, weapons, that might kill human beings in war.

It's ethics all the way down.

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How does Tufekci start her speech? by telling a story.

What does Tufekci mean by all the laughs are on me? Her career is full of the ethical issues she tried to avoid.

Why does Tufekci mention the conversation with her manager? To show people’s concern about the power of computers.

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The idiom "somewhere along the line" means...at some point during a process.

To suss something out means… to investigate and learn more about it.

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So I thought to myself, hey, let me pick a technical field where I can get a job easily and where I don't have to deal with any troublesome questions of ethics.

*

Computer scientists are building platforms that control what a billion people see every day. They're developing cars that could decide who to run over.

*

I started my first job as a computer programmer in my very first year of college.

*

But somewhere along the line I'd learned about nuclear weapons, and I'd gotten really concerned with the ethics of science.

Nowadays, there are computational systems that can suss out emotional states and even lies by processing human faces.