(单词翻译:单击)
Are we learning that we might not be quite as special as we thought?
我们是否认识到,我们可能并不像我们想象的那般特别?
Kind of, yeah. This work is raising a lot of important philosophical questions and ethical ones, too.
可以这么说
For a long time, philosophers said we would never be able to determine if animals can be said to have language, let alone be able to decipher or speak it.
很长一段时间以来,哲学家们都认为,我们永远无法确定是否可以说动物有语言,更不必说能破译或说这种语言了
But these new technologies have really changed the game.
但这些新技术确实改变了游戏规则
One thing that Karen said during our interview is that we can't talk to bats, but our computers can.
凯伦在采访中谈了一件事,即,我们无法与蝙蝠对话,但我们的电脑却可以
You and I can't hear, let alone keep up with the fast, high-pitched communication between bats.
你和我都听不到蝙蝠的叫声,更不用说跟上它们之间快速、尖锐的交流了
And we certainly can't speak it ourselves, but electronic sensors and speakers can.
我们自己当然不会讲蝙蝠语,但电子传感器和扬声器都可以
And with artificial intelligence, we can begin to trace patterns in animal communication that we never could before.
借助人工智能,我们可以开始追踪我们从未做过的动物交流模式
People still debate the question of if we can call it animal language, but it's becoming clear that animals have much more complex ways of communicating than we thought before.
人们仍在争论我们是否可以将其称为动物语言的问题,但越来越清楚的是,动物的交流方式比我们以前认为的要复杂得多
Apparently. What other examples of this can you find in the book?
显然如此
Karen also told me the story of a bee researcher named Tim Landgraf.
凯伦还给我讲了一个蜜蜂研究者蒂姆·兰德格拉夫的故事
So honeybee communication very different from our own.
蜜蜂的交流方式与我们截然不同
They use not just sounds but also the movements of their bodies to speak. So have you heard of the famed waggle dance?
它们不仅用声音说话,还用身体动作说话
Yeah. Is that the one where the bees shake their fuzzy little butts in different directions? Or explain where to find nectar?
是的
That's the one. But the waggle dance is just one form of honeybee communication.
就是这个舞蹈
Landgraf and his team used a combination of natural language processing, like in the bat study and computer vision, which analyzes imagery, to decipher both the sounds and the wiggles of bee chatter.
兰德格拉夫和他的团队将自然语言处理与其他方法相结合,比如在蝙蝠研究中,与分析图像的计算机视觉相结合,来破译蜜蜂交流时的声音与摇摆动作
They're now able to track individual bees and predict the impact of what one bee says to another.
他们现在能跟踪单只蜜蜂,并预测一只蜜蜂对另一只蜜蜂所说的话的影响
That is so cool.
太酷了
Yeah, they have all sorts of specific signals that the researchers have given these funny names.
对,它们会发出各种各样的特定信号,研究人员给这些信号起了有趣的名字
So bees toot and quack for they have a whooping sound for danger.
蜜蜂发出嘟嘟声与嘎嘎声,是因为它们在高声求救
Piping signals related to swarming, and they use a hush or stop signal to get the hive to quiet down.
笛声信号与聚集有关,它们发出嘘嘘声或停止使用信号来让蜂群安静下来
Wow. I love the image of a quacking bee.
哇
Landgraf's next step was to encode what they learned into a robotic bee, which he called...drum roll, please...Robobee.
兰德格拉夫的下一步是将他们了解的东西编码到一个机器蜜蜂中去,它叫......鼓声响起来......机器蜂
Classic.
好典型