Every Week News 20150114 霍金:人工智能可能会终结人类

Now the leading theoretical physicist Steven Hawking has said that the development of artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. He was speaking after the launch of a new software system which has learned to help him write and communicate more easily and which will now be made fully available. Professor Hawking said that science and technology were improving the lives of people with disabilities, but warned that along with the benefits came risks. Our technology correspondent has been pondering the rise and rise of the machines. As computing power increases, machines are beginning to take on tasks once done by humans from translating foreign languages to driving cars. Steven Hawking has been dependent on technology to communicate. And now an update has let him do that more efficiently partly thanks to software which learns how he thinks. He said the new system had been life-changing for him and had the potential to greatly improve the lives of disabled people all over the world.But it’s also got him thinking about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Professor Hawking warns that if fully developed, it could spell the end to the human race. In the meantime, the hope is that technology can solve some of humanity’s problems rather than threatening its existence. The careers of US presidents Obama, Clinton and George Bush Senior may suggest otherwise,but if you are left-handed like they are, you may be at risk of being left behind in life. According to a study by economists at Harvard University, left-handed people on average score lower in exams and are less likely to get highly-paid jobs. Julie Peacock reports. In the middle ages, they were thought to be possessed by the devil. More recently, though,being left-handed was linked to being creative and gifted. But a study looking at more than 47,000 left handers in the U.K. and the US has found a real difference.Left-handed people, it seems, are less financially successful than their right-handed peers. Lefties in general score a little bit lower on math and reading tests than righties do. And they earn about 10% less money later in life. And there is a little bit of evidence, though, that if you are the left-handed kid of a left-handed mom, it turns out you’ll look just the same as righties do. So there does seem to be some evidence that if you and your parents share handedness,that you are gonna be OK.The reasons for the disparities between right and left-handed people is unclear. Right-handed people tend to use only one hemisphere of the brain for the task. 1.human race n.人类 Only true love and compassion for all can bring back permanent prosperity to the Human Race. 只有对所有生灵都充满真正的爱和同情，人类才能获得永久的繁荣。 2.ponder V.仔细思考 We can ponder over the ways and means for raising funds before the construction work starts. 我们可以在建筑工程开工之前详细考虑各种筹款集资的措施。 3.disparity n.不同 Many organizations struggle with the disparity and distribution of information. 信息的不一致和分散让很多组织十分烦恼。 4.left handers n.左撇子 Meanwhile, most of the gravel trap at the high-speed turn 3 left hander has been asphalted ,and nearly 4kms of new tyre barriers erected around the track. 与此同时，大部分的砾石陷阱高速反过来3左手已经铺上柏油，近4千米的新的轮胎屏障的轨道。 5.handedness n.用左手或右手的习惯 An important factor that the researchers took note of was the participants' handedness. 研究人员考察的一个重要因素是参与者的用手习惯。 6.computing power 计算能力 Some data centers use only about twenty to thirty percent of their computing power. 一些数据中心仅使用他们计算机能力的百分之二十到三十。 1.In the middle ages, they were thought to be possessed by the devil. be possessed by 为……所支配 So here alized this pond must be possessed by a water demon. 所以这个池塘肯定是已经被水怪控制了。 A study by British scientists has found that the mysterious G-spot, the sexual pleasure zone said to be possessed by some women but denied to others, may not exist at all. 英国科学家的一项研究发现，神秘的G点——传说中有些女性拥有，但是有一些女性却没有的性敏感区——也许根本就不存在。 2.More recently, though, being left-handed was linked to being creative and gifted. be linked to 与……连接 Services can be linked to the information artifacts that they depend on, and be visible to both the service architect and the data architect. 服务可以被链接到它们依赖的信息工件上，且它们对服务架构师和数据架构师都是可见的。 The prevalence of these widgets means they can report on almost all your browsing activity,which can then be linked to databases full of the social data you intentionally share. 这些工具的盛行率意味着他们可以报告几乎所有你的浏览活动，然后将它们连接到充满你有意分享的社交数据的数据库中。