听考研真题|2024年英二阅读1:人工智能不能只惠及精英群体

In her new book Cogs and Monsters: What Economics ls, and What It Should Be, Diane Coyle, an economist at Cambridge University, argues that the digital economy requires new ways of thinking about progress.  

【翻译】剑桥大学经济学家戴安·科伊尔在其新著《齿轮与怪物：经济学的现状及其应有方向》中提出，数字经济需要一种关于“进步”的全新思维方式。

“Whatever we mean by the economy growing, by things getting better, the gains will have to be more evenly shared than in the recent past,”she writes.

【生词】evenly adv.均匀地, 均等地, 平静地

“An economy of tech millionaires or billionaires and gig workers, with middle-income jobs undercut by automation, will not be politically sustainable.”

【生词】millionaire n.百万富翁, 大富翁, 大财主, 有钱人

billionaire n.亿万富翁

【翻译】一个由科技领域的百万富翁或亿万富翁与零工劳动者构成的经济体系——其中中等收入岗位已被自动化技术取代——在政治上将无法持续。

Improving living standards and increasing prosperity for more people will  require greater use of digital technologies to boost productivity in various sectors, including health care and construction, says Coyle. 

    【翻译】科伊尔表示，若要提高更多人的生活水平并增进其福祉，就需要更广泛地运用数字技术，以提升包括医疗保健与建筑在内的多个领域的生产力。

But people can't be expected to embrace the changes if they're not seeing the benefits-- if they're just seeing good jobs being destroyed.

    【翻译】但如果人们看不到这些变革带来的益处——仅仅看到优质就业岗位被裁撤——那么就不可能指望他们接受这些变革。

In a recent interview, Coyle said she fears that tech's inequality problem could be a roadblock to deploying Al.

【生词】roadblock  n.路障, <美>障碍

deploy v.使展开, 施展, 部署, 有效地利用

“We’re talking about disruption,”she says. “These are transformative technologies that change the ways we spend our time every day, that change business models that succeed.”

【生词】disruption n.中断，扰乱，混乱，颠覆

transformative adj.有改革能力的，变化的，变形的

To make such “tremendous changes,”she adds, you need social buy-in.

【生词】tremendous adj.极大的，巨大的, 可怕的，惊人的, 极好的

buy-in 大宗购进（某物）,支持

【翻译】她补充道，若要实现如此“巨大的变革”，就需要获得社会的广泛支持。

Instead, says Coyle, resentment is simmering among many as the benefits are perceived to go to elites in a handful of prosperous cities.

【生词】resentment n.愤恨，不满

simmer v.炖，慢煮, 充满势将爆发的（怒气等）

【翻译】然而，科伊尔指出，随着相关福利被认为仅惠及少数繁荣城市的精英阶层，许多民众心中已悄然滋生不满情绪。

According to the Brookings Institution, a short list of eight American cities that included San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, and Seattle had roughly 38% of all tech jobs by 2019. 

    【翻译】根据布鲁金斯学会的数据，截至2019年，包括旧金山、圣何塞、波士顿和西雅图在内的八座美国城市所承担的科技类就业岗位，约占全美科技类就业岗位总数的38%。

New AI technologies are particularly concentrated: Brookings's Mark Muro and Sifan Liu estimate that just 15 cities account for two-thirds of the AI assets and capabilities in the United States.

【翻译】新型人工智能技术呈现出高度集中态势：布鲁金斯学会的马克·穆罗与刘西凡估计，全美仅有15个城市就占据了美国人工智能资产与能力的三分之二。

The dominance of a few cities in the invention and commercialization of AI means that geographical disparities in wealth will continue to soar. 

【生词】disparity n.不同, 不等, 不一致, 悬殊

soar vi.高飞, 飞腾, 猛增，剧增, 高耸，屹立; vt.高飞越过, 飞升到

【翻译】少数城市在人工智能的研发与商业化进程中占据主导地位，这意味着财富的地理分布差异将持续加剧。

Not only will this foster political and social unrest, but it could, as Coyle suggests, hold back the sorts of AI technologies needed for regional economies to grow.

【生词】unrest n.动荡，不安定, 骚乱, 风潮, 乱腾

hold back 隐瞒, 控制, 阻碍, 犹豫不决

Part of the solution could lie in somehow loosening the strangle hold that Big Tech has on defining the Al agenda. 

【生词】strangle hold 卡脖子

【翻译】解决方案的一部分或许在于以某种方式削弱科技巨头在界定人工智能发展议程方面所掌握的垄断性掌控力。

That will likely take increased federal funding for research independent of the tech giants.

A more immediate response is to broaden our digital imaginations to conceive of AI technologies that don't simply replace jobs but expand opportunities in the  sectors that different parts of the country care most about, like health care,   education, and manufacturing.