(点击右边三个点，可调整速度，电脑上可下载)

听力参考原文 ↓↓↓

[00:00.04]Building a robot

[00:01.76]that is both human-like and useful

[00:04.84]has been a goal of engineers for many years.

[00:09.40]Interest in the idea of artificial intelligence (AI)

[00:14.88]has created another wave of investment

[00:18.28]in robot technology to build a human-like robot.

[00:24.16]But most of the current robot models

[00:27.12]that aim to look like people are not too effective.

[00:32.56]They appear to work well in planned performances

[00:36.64]but not in real life.

[00:39.40]However, this has not stopped some startups

[00:43.04]from continuing to develop human-like,

[00:46.28]or humanoid, robots.

[00:49.80]"The intention is not to start from the beginning,'"

[00:53.44]said Jonathan Hurst.

[00:56.28]He is co-founder and chief robot officer

[00:59.88]at Agility Robotics.

[01:03.24]"We're trying to make robots

[01:05.44]that can operate in human spaces."

[01:09.40]Hurst said Agility's robot Digit

[01:12.80]is designed to do human things.

[01:16.64]It is not designed to look like a human.

[01:20.16]What it does is pick up objects and move them.

[01:25.64]Amazon announced in October

[01:28.28]that the company will begin testing the Digit robot

[01:31.88]for use in some of its storage buildings.

[01:36.48]Agility opened a factory

[01:38.88]in the western state of Oregon in September

[01:42.52]to mass produce their robot.

[01:46.12]Digit has a head containing cameras, other sensors,

[01:50.52]animated eyes, and an upper body that provides power.

[01:56.60]It has two arms and two legs,

[01:59.76]but its legs are not human-like.

[02:02.96]It looks similar to cats and dogs

[02:05.80]that walk on the very end of their feet,

[02:08.76]rather than on flat feet.

[02:12.08]Competing robot-makers, like Figure AI,

[02:16.32]are designing robots differently.

[02:20.08]The company believes that only human-like robots

[02:23.96]can effectively work in places built for humans.

[02:29.36]Figure AI also plans

[02:31.84]to start developing robots for simpler uses.

[02:36.68]But it aims to build robots

[02:39.08]that can perform more than one job

[02:41.88]to help take over work from humans.

[02:45.68]"There's not enough people doing these jobs,

[02:48.96]so the market's massive,"

[02:51.28]said Figure AI chief Brett Adcock.

[02:56.04]He said he believes his company can sell millions

[03:00.12]or even billions of humanoid robots

[03:03.60]if it can make a robot do a human's work.

[03:08.36]At the moment, however, Adcock's company

[03:11.84]does not have a model that is ready.

[03:15.52]The company was founded just over a year ago

[03:19.16]after it raised tens of millions of dollars.

[03:23.92]Figure AI released a 38-second video of its robot, Figure,

[03:30.04]walking through its building in California.

[03:34.12]Elon Musk, head of Tesla,

[03:36.68]is also trying to build a human-like robot, called Optimus,

[03:41.88]in the electric carmaker's robotics division.

[03:47.40]But a presentation of the robot's walking last year

[03:51.68]did not win over experts in the field.

[03:55.72]Agility's Digit robot caught Amazon's attention

[04:00.16]because it can walk and move in a way

[04:03.08]that would work well with the robots

[04:05.44]the company already uses.

[04:08.92]Those robots look like vehicles

[04:11.68]and work in large buildings carrying heavy loads.

[04:17.04]Tye Brady is Amazon's chief technologist for robotics.

[04:22.92]He said the way the robot moves

[04:25.44]"is more interesting" than the way it looks.

[04:29.92]Agility Robotics co-founder and chief Damion Shelton

[04:35.12]said its Digit robot is "just the first use case"

[04:40.20]of a new generation of robots.

[04:44.36]He hopes people will embrace robots

[04:47.40]rather than fear them as they enter businesses and homes.

[04:53.28]"So, in 10, 20 years,

[04:56.00]you're going to see these robots everywhere," Shelton said.

[05:01.44]He added: "...Human-centric robots

[05:04.52]like that are going to be part of human life."

[05:09.24]I'm Gregory Stachel.

______________________

Words in This Story

startup – n. (business jargon) a general term for a new business with a new product which gives no information about the business organization under law

intention – n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve: an aim or purpose

animated –adj. able to move or change

embrace – v. to accept (something or someone) readily or gladly

-centric – adj. having (something) as a central interest, influence, or subject