经济学人:技术也是一种威胁(1)

 But the technology also threatens. 但是，技术也是威胁。

Researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated that, when shown pictures of one gay man, and one straight man,  斯坦福大学的研究表明，在被出示给一张同性恋之人的照片和一张异性恋之人的照片时，

the algorithm could attribute their sexuality correctly 81% of the time. 算法在81%的时间中可以正确地确定他们的性取向。

Humans managed only 61%. 人类经过努力才才能达到61%。

In countries where homosexuality is a crime, software which promises to infer sexuality from a face is an alarming prospect¹. 在同性恋是一种犯罪的国家中，能从脸部断定性取向的软件是一种令人担忧的前景。

Less violent forms of discrimination could also become common. 不那么暴力的歧视形式也可能变得很常见。

Employers can already act on their prejudices to deny people a job. 雇主早就能够根据自己的偏见拒绝给人们一份工作。

But facial recognition could make such bias² routine, enabling firms to filter all job applications for ethnicity and signs of intelligence and sexuality. 但是，脸部识别可能让这类偏见司空见惯，它能让公司为了种族特点以及智力和性别信号而去过滤所有的求职申请。

Nightclubs and sports grounds may face pressure to protect people by scanning entrants' faces for the threat of violence—even though, owing to the nature of machine-learning,  夜总会和运动场可能面对为了暴力威胁而通过扫描入场者脸部的方式来保护人们的压力——鉴于机器学习的性质，

all facial-recognition systems inevitably³ deal in probabilities. 所有的脸部识别系统都不可避免地是在各种可能性中转来转去。

Moreover, such systems may be biased⁴ against those who do not have white skin, since algorithms trained on data sets of mostly white faces do not work well with different ethnicities. 再者，由于接受的大多是白人脸部的数据集培训的算法不能很好地处理不同的种族特点，这类系统可能沾染上对没有白色皮肤的人的偏见。

Such biases⁵ have cropped up in automated⁶ assessments⁷ used to inform courts' decisions about bail⁸ and sentencing. 这类偏见已经在用来公示法庭有关假释和判决的决定的自动评估中露出了苗头。

Eventually, continuous facial recording⁹ and gadgets¹⁰ that paint computerised data onto the real world might change the texture¹¹ of social interactions. 最后，持续不断的脸部记录行为以及能把经过计算机处理的数据投射到现实世界的各种小工具可能改变社会交往的结构。

Dissembling helps grease the wheels of daily life. 掩饰有助于日常生活的润滑。

If your partner can spot every suppressed yawn, and your boss every grimace¹² of irritation¹³, marriages and working relationships will be more truthful¹⁴, but less harmonious¹⁵. 如果伴侣能够发现每一个被强压下去的哈欠，如果老板能够发现每一个带着不满的苦相，婚姻和工作关系将会更加诚实，但是，却少了一些和谐。

 

1 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

5 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

6 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

7 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

8 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

9 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

10 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

11 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

12 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。

13 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

14 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

15 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。