谷歌助手還能和人類正常對話了

From a standpoint of pure technological ingenuity, the most memorable section of yesterday's key not eat Google's I/O conference was the unveiling of Duplex, an AI service that can place phone calls and converse with a human on the other end.

在谷歌昨天召開的I/O(輸入/輸出)大會上，最令人難忘的主題就是谷歌從純技術獨創(chuàng)性的角度推出了Duplex技術，這是一種可以撥打電話并與電話另一端的人交談的人工智能服務。

Starting this summer, Google plans to use it to let its Google Assistant handle mundane tasks such as making a haircut appointment or inquiring about a business’s holiday hours.

今年夏天，谷歌計劃開始使用該技術讓谷歌助手處理一些日常工作，例如預約理發(fā)或咨詢一家公司的節(jié)假日營業(yè)時間。

Judging from the two real calls replayed on the conference, it could be one of the most eerily human feats a computer has ever accomplished.

從會議上重播的兩段真實的電話錄音來判斷，它可能是至今為止人類使一臺電腦實現(xiàn)的最神秘的成就之一了。

The recordings gave no evidence that the small-business employees on the other end of the line caught wise to the fact they were conversing with a machine.

這段錄音證明，電話另一端的小型企業(yè)的職員并未意識到他們在與一臺機器交談。

Google’s blog post on Duplex explains how its creators made the technology sound so natural, including the fact that it inserts “hmms” and “uh”s into its synthesized speech.

谷歌通過博客上的一篇帖子解釋了Duplex技術的創(chuàng)造者是如何使這項技術聽起來那么自然，其中包括在合成語音中插入“hmms”(嗯)和“uh”(哦)等語氣詞。

 

“It’s important to us that users and businesses have a good experience with this service, and transparency is a key part of that. We want to be clear about the intent of the call sobusinesses understand the context. We’ll be experimenting with the right approach over thecoming months,” a Google representative said.

“對我們而言，重要的是用戶和企業(yè)可以從這項服務中獲得很好的體驗，而且清楚易懂是其中很重要的一部分。我們想要使這通電話的目的明確，這樣企業(yè)就可以明白其背景。在接下來的幾個月中，我們會用正確的方式來進行實驗，”谷歌的一位銷售代表說道。

At the start of the conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed a sentiment about the company’s new technologies and their impact on society.

在此次大會開場的時候，谷歌總裁桑達·皮采說明了他對公司推出的新技術的看法以及它們對社會的影響。

“We know the path ahead needs to be navigated carefully and deliberately,” he said. “And we feel a deep sense of responsibility to get this right.”

“我們知道，我們需要細心謹慎地確定前進的方向，”他說道。“而且我們有著一種強烈的責任感，要把這項技術搞清楚。”

That’s the proper attitude—and Duplex’s launch will provide an opportunity to show Google takes its responsibility seriously.

這是一種正確的態(tài)度，而且推出Duplex技術將為谷歌提供一個展示其認真負責的機會。