经济学人:人脸识别让你无处可藏(1)

 Leaders 领导者

Nowhere to hide 无处可藏

Facial recognition is not just another technology. It will change society. 脸部识别不但但是又一项技术。它将改变社会。

THE human face is a remarkable¹ piece of work. 人脸是一件非同凡响的作品。

The astonishing variety of facial features helps people recognise each other and is crucial to the formation of complex societies. 令人惊异的脸部特征多样化帮助人们相互辨认，并且对复杂社会的形成非常关键。

So is the face's ability to send emotional signals, whether through an involuntary blush or the artifice² of a false smile. 人脸传达表情符号的能力——无论是通过不自觉的脸红，还是通过做作的假笑——也是如此。

People spend much of their waking lives, in the office and the courtroom as well as the bar and the bedroom, reading faces, for signs of attraction, hostility³, trust and deceit. 人们把醒着的时间——无论是在办公室、法庭，还是在酒吧和卧室——大都用在阅读脸上的吸引、敌视、信任和欺骗的符号上面。

They also spend plenty of time trying to dissimulate⁴. 同时，还拿出大把的时间试图掩饰。

Technology is rapidly catching⁵ up with the human ability to read faces. 技术正在迅速地赶上人类读脸的能力。

In America facial recognition is used by churches to track worshippers' attendance; in Britain, by retailers⁶ to spot past shoplifters. 在美国，脸部识别被教堂用来记录信徒的礼拜。在英国，它被零售商用来识别以前的商店扒手。

This year Welsh police used it to arrest a suspect outside a football game. 今年，威尔士警方使用这种技术在一场球赛外逮捕了一名疑犯。

In China it verifies the identities of ride-hailing drivers, permits tourists to enter attractions and lets people pay for things with a smile. 在中国，它验证出租车司机的身份，允许游客进入景点，让人们用微笑付款购物。

Apple's new iPhone is expected to use it to unlock the homescreen. 苹果公司的新iPhone手机有望用它来解锁屏幕。

Set against human skills, such applications might seem incremental⁷. 较之人类技能，这类应用或许看上去是多此一举。

Some breakthroughs, such as flight or the internet, obviously transform human abilities; facial recognition seems merely to encode them. 有些突破，如飞行和互联网，明显地改变了人类的能力；脸部识别不过是对它们进行编码而已。

Although faces are peculiar⁸ to individuals, they are also public, so technology does not, at first sight, intrude⁹ on something that is private. 尽管脸之与是独有的，但是，它们也是公共的。因此，乍一看，技术没有侵犯私有之物。

And yet the ability to record, store and analyse images of faces cheaply, quickly and on a vast scale promises one day to bring about fundamental changes to notions of privacy, fairness and trust. 然而，便宜地、快速地、大量地记录、储存和分析人脸影像的能力预示着，总有一天会给隐私、公平和信任等观念带来根本性的变革。

 

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 artifice   

n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计

参考例句：

• The use of mirrors in a room is an artifice to make the room look larger.利用镜子装饰房间是使房间显得大一点的巧妙办法。
• He displayed a great deal of artifice in decorating his new house.他在布置新房子中表现出富有的技巧。

3 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

4 dissimulate   

v.掩饰，隐藏

参考例句：

• This man was too injured to dissimulate well.这个人受伤严重，无法完全遮掩住。
• He who knows not how to dissimulate,can not reign.不知道如何装扮成一个君子的人无法赢得尊重。

5 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

8 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

9 intrude   

vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰

参考例句：

• I do not want to intrude if you are busy.如果你忙我就不打扰你了。
• I don't want to intrude on your meeting.我不想打扰你们的会议。