日本机器人小说家入围文学奖

 Could a writing robot make novelists obsolete¹?

机器人作家会让人类小说家失业吗？

It might not happen anytime soon, but then again, it might. In Japan, a short novel co-written by an artificial intelligence program (its co-author is human) made it past the first stage of a literary² contest, the Japan News reports.

目前也许还不能，但未来可说不准。据日本新闻社报道，一篇由人工智能程序和人类作家合作完成的短篇小说在一项文学大赛中通过了第一轮筛选。

The Nikkei Hoshi Shinichi Literary Award is named after Hoshi Shinichi, a Japanese science fiction author whose books include "The Whimsical Robot" and "Greetings from Outer Space." Judges for the prize weren't told which novels were written by humans and which were penned by human-computer teams.

日本星新一文学奖是以日本科幻小说家星新一命名的一个奖项，该作家的作品包括《反复无常的机器人》、《来自外太空的问候》等。该奖的评委并不会被事先告知作品是由人类还是人机共创的。

日本机器人小说家入围文学奖

The award is unique in that it accepts entries from "applicants³ who are not human beings (AI programs and others)." Novels co-written by humans and computers were submitted to the prize committee.

该奖项的独特之处在于它接受那些非人类申请者（人工智能等)的参赛报名。奖项评审委员会接受了由人类和计算机共同完成的参赛作品。

The Asahi Shimbun reports that one of four books co-written by an AI program made it past the first stage of the contest.

日本朝日新闻消息称，那些由人类和人工智能共同完成的参赛作品中，有四分之一通过了第一轮筛选。

Teams of writers worked with an AI program to create the cyborg novels. The level of human involvement in the novels was about 80%, one of the professors who worked on the project said.

人类作家团队在有人工智能程序的参与下，创作这种半机械小说。一位参与此项目的教授表示，整部小说有80%左右的内容是由人类完成的。

However, the computers did the hard work — actually writing the text.

不过，计算机完成的20%是比较艰巨的那部分——即写出文本。

Humans decided⁴ the plot and character details of the novel, then entered words and phrases from an existing novel into a computer, which was able to construct a new book using that information.

人类作家构思小说情节和人物细节，然后把现有小说里的单词和短语输入电脑，确保这些信息能够构建一部新的作品。

The prize committee didn't disclose⁵ which of the four computer co-written entries advanced in the competition. The Japan News reports that one of the submitted books is titled "The Day a Computer Writes a Novel," which ends with the sentences "I writhed⁶ with joy, which I experienced for the first time, and kept writing with excitement. The day a computer wrote a novel. The computer, placing priority⁷ on the pursuit⁸ of its own joy, stopped working for humans."

奖项评审委员会并没有透露哪四部“人机”合作作品在第一阶段胜出。据日本新闻社报道，有部名为《电脑开始写小说的那天》的作品在结尾处说到：“写作让我快乐，这是我之前从未体验过的，我也将继续带着兴奋写作。这是电脑开始写小说的那天。电脑终于不用再为人类工作，而是要首先追寻自身的快乐。”

Novelists probably shouldn't worry about losing their jobs just yet. Although the novel made it past the first round, it didn't win the award.

人类小说家们现在还无需担心饭碗问题。虽然这些“人机”合作作品在第一轮筛选中脱颖而出，但绝不会夺冠。

Still, the book impressed science-fiction novelist Satoshi Hase, who said, "I was surprised at the work because it was a well-structured novel. But there are still some problems [to overcome] to win the prize, such as character descriptions."

不过，这本半机械小说还是引起了科幻小说家中本聪·哈泽的注意。他说：“这部小说结构的严谨令人震惊。但要想夺冠，它还需要在某些方面有所提高，比如人物描写。”

1 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

2 literary   

adj.文学（上）的

参考例句：

• Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
• The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。

3 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 disclose   

vt.揭露，泄露，透露

参考例句：

• Science can disclose the mysteries of nature.科学能解开自然界的奥秘。
• Neither side would disclose details of the transaction.双方均不肯披露交易细节。

6 writhed   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He writhed at the memory, revolted with himself for that temporary weakness. 他一想起来就痛悔不已，只恨自己当一时糊涂。
• The insect, writhed, and lay prostrate again. 昆虫折腾了几下，重又直挺挺地倒了下去。

7 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。

8 pursuit   

n.追赶，追求，职业，工作

参考例句：

• They set off at once along the lane in pursuit.他们立即出发沿着小巷追赶。
• Life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness have been called the inalienable rights of man.生命、自由和追求幸福被称为人类不可剥夺的权利。