TED演讲:智能机器可以从鱼群中学到什么呢(1)

In my early days as a graduate student, I went on a snorkeling trip off the coast of the Bahamas.

当我还在读研究生的时候，我在巴哈马海岸参加了一次潜泳之旅。

I'd actually never swum in the ocean before, so it was a bit terrifying.

我之前从没在海里游过泳，心里难免有些忐忑。

What I remember the most is, as I put my head in the water and I was trying really hard to breathe through the snorkel¹,

让我印象最深的是，当我把头潜入水中时很努力地试图通过通气管呼吸，

this huge group of striped yellow and black fish came straight at me ... and I just froze.

这时一大群拥有黄黑相间条纹的鱼径直向我游过来，我瞬间变得不知所措。

And then, as if it had suddenly changed its mind, came towards me and then swerved² to the right and went right around me.

之后鱼群好像突然改变了主意，游到我面前，然后突然右转，与我擦肩而过。

It was absolutely mesmerizing³. Maybe many of you have had this experience.

这鱼群彻底惊艳到我了。也许你们中的许多人也有过这样的经历。

Of course, there's the color and the beauty of it, but there was also just the sheer⁴ oneness of it,

当然，令人着迷的不但有它的艳丽和壮美，同时也有它纯粹的同一性，

as if it wasn't hundreds of fish but a single entity⁵ with a single collective mind that was making decisions.

好像它不是成百上千条鱼，而是单一有唯一集体思维的个体在做决定。

When I look back, I think that experience really ended up determining what I've worked on for most of my career.

回想起来，这段经历对我职业生涯的大部分工作起到了决定性的作用。

I'm a computer scientist, and the field that I work in is artificial intelligence.

我是一个计算机科学家，从事的领域是人工智能（AI）。

And a key theme in AI is being able to understand intelligence by creating our own computational systems

人工智能中一个关键的主题是能通过创造我们自己的计算机系统来了解智能，

that display intelligence the way we see it in nature.

这些系统展现了我们在自然中所观察到的智能。

Now, most popular views of AI, of course, come from science fiction and the movies, and I'm personally a big Star Wars fan.

如今AI最受欢迎的想法是源于科幻小说和电影，我本人就是《星球大战》的超级粉丝。

But that tends to be a very human-centric view of intelligence.

但那些关于AI的想法往往以人类为中心。

When you think of a fish school, or when I think of a flock⁶ of starlings, that feels like a really different kind of intelligence.

当你想到鱼群，或当我想到一群八哥时，那是一种全新的关于智能的体会。

For starters, any one fish is just so tiny compared to the sheer size of the collective,

首先，每一条鱼在庞大鱼群的映衬下都显得非常微不足道，

so it seems that any one individual would have a really limited and myopic⁷ view of what's going on,

所以似乎任何一个个体对于所发生事物的视角都是非常有限和片面的，

and intelligence isn't really about the individual but somehow a property of the group itself.

智能似乎与个体无关，而是群体的某种属性。

1 snorkel   

n.泳者所戴的通气管，潜水艇的吸、排气装置

参考例句：

• With a snorkel,however,a diver can stay under water for quite a long time.潜水员携带一根通气管就可以在水下呆很长时间。
• I did buy a mask and fins and a snorkel.我买了面镜、蛙鞋和一个呼吸管。

2 swerved   

v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。
• The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mesmerizing   

adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I think you must be mesmerizing me, Charles. 查尔斯，我想你一定在对我施催眠术啦。 来自辞典例句
• The attendant one-dimensional wave equation has mesmerizing harmonic properties. 伴生的一元波平衡具有迷人的和谐特性。 来自电影对白

4 sheer   

adj.绝对的，全然的，峻峭的；v.躲开，躲避，使...避开； adv.完全，全然，峻峭

参考例句：

• He achieved his aim by sheer strength of will.他纯粹靠意志力达到了目的。
• I guess It'sheer waste of time arguing about it.看来争论这件事纯粹是浪费时间。

5 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

6 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

7 myopic   

adj.目光短浅的，缺乏远见的

参考例句：

• The Government still has a myopic attitude to spending.政府在开支问题上仍然目光短浅。
• Myopic views could be potentially damaging for us.目光短浅会给我们带来严重的后果。