第2172期:Could robots replace us at work?

If you’re in a job performing tedious tasks, you might think that a robot could do the work instead. But perhaps we underestimate how much technology already helps with the activities that we would otherwise have to do.  And as artificial intelligence progresses we might find it replaces us in the workplace altogether.如果您从事的工作是执行繁琐的任务，您可能会认为机器人可以代替这项工作。 但也许我们低估了技术已经对我们本来必须做的活动有多大帮助。 随着人工智能的进步，我们可能会发现它在工作场所完全取代了我们。

For now, robotic technology is providing a helping hand for businesses, particularly in manufacturing, assisting humans in performing work more efficiently and sometimes more accurately. For online shopping, for example, robots have become essential in giant warehouses. They sort and move millions of objects of all different shapes and sizes, although humans are still needed to pick and distribute the goods.目前，机器人技术正在为企业（尤其是制造业）提供帮助，帮助人类更高效、有时甚至更准确地完成工作。 例如，对于在线购物，机器人已成为巨型仓库中必不可少的部分。 尽管仍然需要人类来挑选和分发货物，但它们对数以百万计的各种不同形状和大小的物体进行分类和移动。

The advancement of robotics in the workplace is good for some businesses; the ones who research, develop, build and use them. The British government estimates that by 2035, artificial intelligence could add around £630bn to the UK economy. But there are still tasks that robots can’t yet do, and that’s the challenge for companies such as Automata. Its co-founder, Suryansh Chandra, told the BBC that his technology will eliminate boring, repetitive jobs that humans don't like and aren't very good at, and also create new ones that are likely to replace them.机器人技术在工作场所的进步对某些企业有利； 研究、开发、构建和使用它们的人。 英国政府估计，到 2035 年，人工智能将为英国经济增加约 6300 亿英镑。 但仍有一些任务是机器人无法完成的，这对 Automata 等公司来说是一个挑战。 其联合创始人苏扬什·钱德拉 (Suryansh Chandra) 告诉 BBC，他的技术将消除人类不喜欢且不擅长的无聊、重复性工作，并创造可能取代它们的新工作。

It seems inevitable that robots will eventually be able to do more and more of the jobs that are currently performed by humans, so should we be worried by the rise of the machines? Some experts fear hundreds of thousands of jobs could disappear as robots replace human workers. A report by the OECD suggests that 14% of jobs are "at high risk of automation" and 32% of jobs could be "radically transformed", with the manufacturing sector at the highest risk.机器人最终将能够完成越来越多目前由人类完成的工作似乎是不可避免的，所以我们应该对机器的崛起感到担忧吗？ 一些专家担心，随着机器人取代人类工人，数十万个工作岗位可能会消失。 经合组织的一份报告表明，14%的工作“面临自动化的高风险”，32%的工作可能会“彻底改变”，其中制造业面临的风险最高。

But as complete automation is some way off, for now we’ll have to work side-by-side with our robot colleagues - and manage to get along with them before they learn to kick us out of the door!但由于完全自动化还有一段路要走，现在我们必须与我们的机器人同事并肩工作 - 并设法与他们相处，然后他们学会把我们踢出家门！

词汇表robot 机器人

artificial intelligence 人工智能

robotic 像机器人的

a helping hand 帮助，助（人）一臂之力

efficiently 有效地

accurately 准确地

essential 必不可少的

sort 挑拣，分类

distribute 分送

advancement 发展

robotics 机器人技术

research 研究

develop 开发

eliminate 消除

repetitive 重复的

inevitable 不可避免的

automation 自动化

transformed 被彻底改变