TED演讲:我们为什么会对机器人有感情(1)

 There was a day, about 10 years ago, when I asked a friend to hold a baby dinosaur¹ robot upside down. 大概10年前的一天，我让一个朋友头朝下地握持一个小恐龙机器人。

It was this toy called a Pleo that I had ordered, and I was really excited about it because I've always loved robots. 这个机器人是我订购的一款叫做Pleo的玩具，我对此非常兴奋，因为我一直都很喜欢机器人。

And this one has really cool technical features. 这个机器人有很酷的技术特征。

It had motors and touch sensors³ and it had an infrared⁴ camera. 它有马达和触觉传感器，还有一个红外摄像头。

And one of the things it had was a tilt⁵ sensor², so it knew what direction it was facing. 它还有一个部件是倾斜传感器，所以它就会知道自己面对的是什么方向。

And when you held it upside down, it would start to cry. 当你把它倒过来，它会开始哭泣。

And I thought this was super cool, so I was showing it off to my friend, 我觉得这点非常酷，所以我展示给我朋友看，

and I said, "Oh, hold it up by the tail. See what it does." 我说：“抓住尾巴竖起来，看看它会怎样。”

So we're watching the theatrics of this robot struggle and cry out. 于是我们看着这个机器人表演、挣扎和哭泣。

And after a few seconds, it starts to bother me a little, and I said, "OK, that's enough now. Let's put him back down." 几秒钟后，我开始感到有点不安，于是我说，“好了，差不多了，我们把它放回去吧。”

And then I pet the robot to make it stop crying. 然后我抚摸着机器人，让它停止哭泣。

And that was kind of a weird⁶ experience for me. 这对我来说是一种奇怪的经历。

For one thing, I wasn't the most maternal⁷ person at the time. 首先，我那时还不是个很有母性的人。

Although since then I've become a mother, nine months ago, 尽管在那之前的9个月，我已经成为了一个母亲，

and I've learned that babies also squirm when you hold them upside down. 我还知道，当你让婴儿 大头朝下时，婴儿也会抽泣。

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

3 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

4 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

5 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。