每日聽力-未來的機器人老師

最新 08-28

聽力原文

Your robot teacher of the future

Will your job be done by a robot in the future? Bank of England economists predict that almost half of all UK jobs are under threat of automation. Those most at risk involve repetitive manual labour, such as factory positions. But could even the venerable profession of teaching soon have to compete against powerful electronic educators?

At first glance, teaching might seem impervious to replacement by robots. Teachers use a range of soft skills that machines find hard to replicate. They gauge pupils" needs and tailor feedback accordingly. They adapt materials to make them more engaging and effective. And they provide pastoral care: looking out for students who lag behind or disrupt the class.

Nonetheless, some believe the future of education will be technological. In an interview with Business Insider magazine, futurist Thomas Frey predicts that "by 2030 the largest company on the internet is going to be an education-based company that we haven"t heard of yet."

He thinks that "bots" – online robot teachers – will make education so efficient that students will be able to compress an entire undergraduate degree into six months of learning. A bot learns what your "idiosyncrasies" "interests" and "reference points" are, "and it figures out how to teach you in a faster and faster way over time," according to Frey.

Whether or not such incredible speeds will be reached, over the last decade there has been a huge increase in online learning platforms. Companies such as Udemy and Khan Academy produce courses that allow millions to learn at home for free, at their own pace. But there are limitations. Without the face-to-face stimulation of a classroom environment, the overwhelming majority of students fail to complete online courses. How to sustain motivation to learn is one more skill that online teachers will need to master.

Indeed, Frey admits there is some way to go: "Nobody has quite cracked the code for the future of education." What do teachers themselves think about this? Professor Donald Clark from Derby University in the UK thinks that we should embrace change, even though people will lose their jobs.

"Artificial intelligence will destroy jobs - so why not use it for a social good such as learning?" he asked.

譯文

未來的機器人老師

未來，你的工作將由機器人來做？英格蘭銀行的經濟學家預言，英國近一半的工作將面臨被自動化的威脅。其中風險最大的工作包含重複性的體力勞動，例如工廠的工作。就連可敬的老師們也將與強大的機器人教師進行競爭？

我們的第一感覺是，教師似乎不能被機器人替代。機器人很難複製教師所使用的一系列軟技能。教師能判斷出學生的需求並作出相應的反饋。他們調整教學材料，使其更具吸引力、更有用。他們也會給予學生心理輔導：關注落後的學生以及擾亂課堂秩序的學生。

然而，有些人認為未來教育將採用高科技。在接受《商業內幕》雜誌的採訪時，未來學家托馬斯·弗雷預言，到2030年，最大的網路公司將成為我們從未聽說過的教育型網站。

他認為，高效率的機器人教師能指導學生在六個月內讀完整個本科學位。弗雷表示，機器人先了解你的個性、喜好、參照點，然後找出一種隨著時間的推進而越來越快的授課方式。

無論機器人能否達到如此驚人的速度，在過去的十年里，網上教學平台已經做了巨大的改進。Udemy、Khan Academy等公司已經上線了一些課程，數百萬人可以按照自己的進度在家免費學習該課程。但這種教學也存在局限性。沒有面對面的課堂環境刺激，絕大多數學生沒能學完在線課程。如何讓學生保持學習動機是在線教師需要掌握的一項技能。

確實，弗雷承認我們還有很長的路要走：「人們還未解決未來教育的問題。」老師們對此有什麼看法呢？英國德比大學教授唐納德·克拉克認為我們應該積極接受改變，即便人們會因此而失去工作。

他問：「人工智慧將搶走一些人的工作——為什麼我們不讓它為社會服務呢，例如教育？」

重點辭彙

1.impervious 不受影響的

例句：She seems almost impervious to the criticism from all sides.

她好像對各方批評無動於衷。

2.gauge 判斷

例句：His mood can be gauged by his reaction to the most trivial of incidents.

他的情緒可以通過他對最瑣碎的小事的反應來判定。

3.compress 壓縮縮短

例句：The four debates will be compressed into an eight-day period.

4場辯論將被壓縮在8天內。