2025，AI将如何改变生活

元旦快乐。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which word in the passage is closest in meaning to “seamless”?

A. Automatic  B. Convenient

C. Unified  D. Flexible

无注释原文：

AI: AI agents, AI scams, AI weather forecasters, AI…everything

From: The Wall Street Journal

Every big (and small) tech company will hype up the promise of AI “agents” this year. So far, generative AI has mostly been about creating text, images and videos. But in the next evolution, AI systems don't just create—they do.

Agents will understand context, learn your preferences and interact with you and other software to get stuff done: booking travel, ordering food, shopping for those new sneakers, etc.

“Our devices are making us work way too hard to get things done,” said David Singleton, co-founder and chief executive of /dev/agents, a company building an agent operating system. Singleton said his platform, launching in 2025, aims to remove the friction from tasks we repeat 10 to 20 times a day.

Google already declared its new Gemini 2.0 the “model for the agentic era”—yes, they said “agentic”— and has shown how its AI agents can buy plane tickets and other stuff. Anthropic recently began testing a “computer use” feature where you can direct its Claude model to search the web, open applications and input text using a mouse and keyboard. And, no surprise, OpenAI is reportedly launching its own AI agent platform in early 2025.

For years, the excitement has been all about smartphones, but the real fun—and fail—is now in AI-supercharged gadgets. 

Apple is set to release a 6-inch smart-home display, according to reports from Bloomberg. Think an iPad for your kitchen or living room wall with a big emphasis on Siri and Apple Intelligence—areas where we're looking for big improvements. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Then Amazon's Alexa is finally getting its long-promised generative-AI upgrade. Along with it, we expect to see smarter Echo speakers and deeper, more seamless interaction with the long-running voice assistant. 

AI will also venture out from the home. “Next year is a big year for Meta glasses,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted in response to our recent report that the Facebook parent will release Ray-Ban smart glasses with a small display.

And then there's the wild card: Former Apple design legend Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are reportedly collaborating on an AI device. It's unclear if that will be out before the 2026 ball drops.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

AI: AI agents, AI scams, AI weather forecasters, AI…everything

From: The Wall Street Journal

Every big (and small) tech company will hype up the promise of AI “agents” this year. So far, generative AI has mostly been about creating text, images and videos. But in the next evolution, AI systems don't just create—they do.

今年，各家大大小小的科技公司都会大肆宣传AI“代理”的前景。到目前为止，生成式AI主要用于创建文本、图像和视频。但在下一波发展浪潮中，AI系统不仅能创造，还能执行。

hype /haɪp/ 可以作名词，也可以作动词，动词短语hype up，表示“（通过新闻媒体）大肆宣传，炒作”，up也可以省略，英文解释为“to repeatedly advertise and discuss something in newspapers, on television, etc. in order to attract everyone's interest”举个🌰：It's being hyped as the musical event of the year. 它正被炒作成年度音乐盛事。

generative /ˈdʒen.ər.ə.tɪv/ 表示“有生产能力的；能生成的”，英文解释为“able to produce or create something”如：the generative power of the mind 大脑的生成能力。

📍ChatGPT全名就是：Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer.

📍词根“gen-”来自拉丁语“generare”，表示“产生”，后缀“-ative”表示形容词，即“有产生作用的”。想象生成式AI能够基于现有数据创造新内容。近义词：productive（生产的），同根词：generate（生成），常用短语：generative model（生成模型）

Agents will understand context, learn your preferences and interact with you and other software to get stuff done: booking travel, ordering food, shopping for those new sneakers, etc.

AI代理将能够理解上下文，了解你的偏好，并通过与你和其它软件互动来完成任务，比如预订旅行、点餐、购买新运动鞋等等。

sneaker /ˈsniːkə/ 表示“运动鞋”，英文解释为“a type of light, comfortable shoe that is suitable for playing sports”，美式sneaker，英式为trainer，举个🌰：He wore old jeans and a pair of sneakers. 他穿一条旧牛仔裤，脚蹬运动鞋。

“Our devices are making us work way too hard to get things done,” said David Singleton, co-founder and chief executive of /dev/agents, a company building an agent operating system. Singleton said his platform, launching in 2025, aims to remove the friction from tasks we repeat 10 to 20 times a day.

/dev/agents是一家构建代理操作系统的公司，联合创始人兼首席执行官辛格尔顿(David Singleton)表示，“我们的设备让完成任务太过耗费精力。” 辛格尔顿表示，他的平台将于2025年推出，目标是消除我们每天为重复10到20次的任务耗费的精力。

agent /ˈeɪ.dʒənt/ 1）表示“代理人；代理商”，英文解释为“a person who acts for or represents another”举个🌰：Please contact our agent in Spain for further information. 如需更多信息，请联系本公司在西班牙的代理。

2）表示“（演员、艺术家、作家等的）经纪人，代理人”，英文解释为“a person who represents an actor, artist, or writer”

friction /ˈfrɪk.ʃən/ 表示“（观点不同者之间的）摩擦，不和”，英文解释为“disagreement or unfriendliness caused by people having different opinions”举个🌰：There's a lot of friction between my wife and my mother. 我妻子和我母亲之间有很多龃龉。

Google already declared its new Gemini 2.0 the “model for the agentic era”—yes, they said “agentic”— and has shown how its AI agents can buy plane tickets and other stuff. Anthropic recently began testing a “computer use” feature where you can direct its Claude model to search the web, open applications and input text using a mouse and keyboard. And, no surprise, OpenAI is reportedly launching its own AI agent platform in early 2025.

谷歌（Google）已经宣布新的Gemini 2.0是“代理时代的典范”，是的，他们提出了“代理时代”，并展示了谷歌AI代理是如何购买机票和其它东西的。Anthropic最近开始测试一项“计算机使用”功能，你可以通过该功能指示Claude模型使用鼠标和键盘搜索网络、打开应用程序和输入文本。而且，毫不出人意料的，据报道，OpenAI将在2025年初推出自己的AI代理平台。

For years, the excitement has been all about smartphones, but the real fun—and fail—is now in AI-supercharged gadgets. 

多年来，人们的兴奋点一直聚焦于智能手机，但现在真正的乐趣（和失败）在于AI赋能的设备。

supercharged /ˈsuː.pə.tʃɑːdʒd/ 1）表示“非常迅速的；精力充沛的”，英文解释为“very fast or energetic”举个🌰：The economy has expanded at a supercharged pace. 经济规模的增长速度惊人。

2）表示“感情强烈的，情绪激动的”，英文解释为“containing or expressing very strong emotions”举个🌰：There was a supercharged atmosphere during the debate. 辩论会上群情激昂。

gadget /ˈɡædʒ.ɪt/ 表示“小器械，小装置，小器具”，英文解释为“A gadget is a small machine or device which does something useful. You sometimes refer to something as a gadget when you are suggesting that it is complicated and unnecessary.”

Apple is set to release a 6-inch smart-home display, according to reports from Bloomberg. Think an iPad for your kitchen or living room wall with a big emphasis on Siri and Apple Intelligence—areas where we're looking for big improvements. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

据彭博（Bloomberg）报道，苹果公司将推出一款6英寸的智能家居显示屏。想象一下，你的厨房或客厅墙壁上有一台iPad，重点使用Siri和Apple Intelligence功能，我们期待这两个领域能有重大改进。苹果公司的一位发言人不予置评。

inch /ɪntʃ/ 表示“英寸（约合2.54厘米，有时用符号''表示）”，英文解释为“a unit used for measuring length, approximately equal to 2.54 centimetres, sometimes shown by the symbol ″”举个🌰：Twelve inches are equal to one foot. 12英寸等于1英尺。

作动词，表示“缓慢地移动”，英文解释为“to move very slowly or in a lot of short stages”举个🌰：We are inching towards an agreement. 我们在慢慢努力达成共识。

Then Amazon's Alexa is finally getting its long-promised generative-AI upgrade. Along with it, we expect to see smarter Echo speakers and deeper, more seamless interaction with the long-running voice assistant. 

亚马逊公司（Amazon）的Alexa终于要对生成式AI进行期待已久的升级了。与此同时，我们预计将会看到更智能的Echo音箱，以及与这款已运作很长时间的语音助手之间的更深入、更无缝互动。

seamless /ˈsiːm.ləs/ 1）表示“顺利的；连续的”，英文解释为“happening without any sudden changes, interruption, or difficulty”举个🌰：The intention is to achieve a seamless transition with a continuity of management. 目地是通过保持管理层连续性实现顺利的转变。

2）表示“无缝的”，英文解释为“without any seams (= lines of sewing joining different pieces of cloth)”如：seamless stockings/tights 无缝长袜/紧身衣。

AI will also venture out from the home. “Next year is a big year for Meta glasses,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted in response to our recent report that the Facebook parent will release Ray-Ban smart glasses with a small display.

AI还将走出家门。在我们最近报道了Facebook母公司Meta Platforms将发布带有小型显示屏的Ray-Ban智能眼镜后，Meta首席执行官扎克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg）发帖回应称，“明年对Meta眼镜来说将是重要的一年。”

venture /ˈven.tʃər/ 1）作名词，表示“（尤指有风险的）企业，商业，投机活动，经营项目”，英文解释为“a business project or activity, especially one that involves taking risks”举个🌰：A disastrous business venture lost him thousands of dollars. 一个彻底失败的经营项目使他损失严重。

2）作动词，表示“敢于去；冒险去（或做）；冒昧地说”，英文解释为“to risk going somewhere or doing something that might be dangerous or unpleasant, or to risk saying something that might be criticized”举个🌰：As we set off into the forest, we felt as though we were venturing (forth) into the unknown. 当我们动身进入那片森林时，感觉自己似乎正在冒险进入一个未知的世界。

📺美剧《复仇》（Revenge）中的台词提到：This is brave new territory we're venturing into here. 这是我们华丽冒险的新地域。

📺美剧《宋飞正传》（Seinfeld）中的台词提到：You realize you're venturing into uncharted waters? 你意识到你在冒险进入未知水域吗？

And then there's the wild card: Former Apple design legend Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are reportedly collaborating on an AI device. It's unclear if that will be out before the 2026 ball drops. 

然后还有一个未知数：据报道，前苹果公司的传奇设计者艾夫（Jony Ive）和OpenAI首席执行官阿尔特曼（Sam Altman）正在合作开发一款AI设备。目前还不清楚这款设备是否会在2026年到来之前问世。

wild card /ˈwaɪld ˌkɑːd/ 1）表示“无法预言的人（或事物）”，英文解释为“someone or something whose behaviour is sometimes unexpected”

2）表示“百搭牌，变牌”，英文解释为“a playing card that does not have any particular value but that can be used to represent any other card”举个🌰：The joker is a wild card that substitutes for any other card to complete a winning hand. 鬼牌可以作为百搭牌替代任何其他一张牌从而帮助赢得一局。

legend /ˈledʒ.ənd/ 1）表示“传说；传奇故事”，英文解释为“a story from ancient times about people and events, that may or may not be true; this type of story”

2）表示“（尤指某领域中的）传奇人物”，英文解释为“a very famous person, especially in a particular field, who is admired by other people”，如：a jazz/tennis legend 爵士乐/网球的传奇人物。

3）表示“（对图画、地图、硬币等的）说明，图例”，英文解释为“the words written on or next to a picture, map, coin, etc. that explain what it is about or what the symbols on it mean”

Ball drop是一个比喻表达，源自纽约时报广场每年新年前夜倒计时时的水晶球降落仪式，象征着新年的到来。这里的意思是“到2026年新年钟声敲响之前”，用以表示某个时间节点，也可以理解为“在2026年之前”。

- 词汇盘点 -

- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -

LearnAndRecord

2015年2月8日

2025年1月1日

第3616天

每天持续行动学外语