前段时间AI孙燕姿走红,有网友用AI模拟孙燕姿的声音来翻唱其他歌曲,传播度非常广。最近孙燕姿本人在个人博客MAKE / MUSIC上发表了《我的AI》进行了回应,这篇回应也在中文互联网上流传甚广:
不过这篇中文版的《我的AI》其实是翻译版,中文版下面有这么一行字translation courtesy of joyapple,意思相当于the translation is provided by courtesy of joyapple,即中文版的译者是一名叫joyapple的网友。
原版的《我的AI》是孙燕姿用英文写的,发表在自己博客上。孙燕姿是新加坡人,母语为英语,同时她还是南洋理工大学毕业的高材生,英语功底深厚。孙燕姿写的这篇文章堪称满分作文,遣词造句有很多可以学习的地方,同时文章也写得非常真实和坦诚,让人印象深刻。
下面我们来赏析一下这篇“满分作文”:

As my AI voice takes on a life of its own while I despair over my overhanging stomach and my children's every damn thing, I can't help but want to write something about it.
take on a life of its own,这里take on是一个短语,意思是“开始具有,呈现出(某种特征、面貌等)”。比如:His life had taken on a new dimension. 他的生活呈现出新的面貌。
overhanging意思是“悬挂的,低垂的”,overhanging stomach夸张而又形象地写出了肚腩突起的状态。
every damn thing相当于“各种生活破事”,关于damn还有另一个表达one damn thing after another,即“破事一件接着一件”。
My fans have officially switched sides and accepted that I am indeed 冷门歌手 while my AI persona is the current hot property. I mean really, how do you fight with someone who is putting out new albums in the time span of minutes.
switch sides是一个固定搭配,相当于“转变立场,倒戈相向”,也可以说成switch allegiance。
persona即我们说的各种“形象”,比如“网络形象”可以说online persona,“某人的公众形象”可以说somebody’s public persona
hot property是近年来英文世界流行的一个新词,意思相当于a person or thing that is in demand,the current hot property可以理解为“顶流”。
英文里面要表达“在……的时间内”,常见的说法in a span of XX,比如in a span of ten years(在十年时间里)。in the time span of minutes即“在几分钟的时间内”。
Whether it is ChatGPT or AI or whatever name you want to call it, this "thing" is now capable of mimicking and/or conjuring, unique and complicated content by processing a gazillion chunks of information while piecing and putting together in a most coherent manner the task being asked at hand. Wait a minute, isn't that what humans do? The very task that we have always convinced ourselves; that the formation of thought or opinion is not replicable by robots, the very idea that this is beyond their league, is now the looming thing that will threaten thousands of human conjured jobs. Legal, medical, accountancy, and currently, singing a song. 
第一个长句写得很漂亮,句子后半部分while piecing and putting together… hand出现了语序调整,还原后是:while piecing and putting together the task being asked at hand in a…manner,之所以要将in a most coherent manner提前是为了保持句子平衡,避免头重脚轻。这也是母语人士写长句时经常用到的一种手法。in a XX manner是一个固定搭配,意思是“以……的方式”。
The very task that…that the formation…the very idea that this is…the looming thing that will threaten… 这个长句同样写得非常有水平,that the formation of thought…is now the looming thing…是that引导的一个主语从句,其中the very idea that…则是that引导的一个同位语从句。beyond somebody’s league意思相当于“超出了某人的档次或水平”。
You will protest, well I can tell the difference, there is no emotion or variance in tone/breath or whatever technical jargon you can come up with. Sorry to say, I suspect that this would be a very short term response.
You will protest, well I can tell the difference, there is no…中间的well I can tell the difference可以理解为插入语,句子主干即:You will protest (that) there is no…
I suspect that this would be…这里用情态动词would可以让语气更加委婉,不像will那么肯定。
Ironically, in no time at all, no human will be able to rise above that. No human will be able to have access to this amount of information AND make the right calls OR make the right mistakes (ok mayyyybe I'm jumping ahead). This new technology will be able to churn out what exactly EVERYTHING EVERYONE needs. As indie or as warped or as psychotic as you can get, there's probably a unique content that could be created just for you. You are not special you are already predictable and also unfortunately malleable.
in no time at all是一个固定搭配,意思相当于very soon,即“很快”。unfortunately malleable这两个词搭配在一起很妙。Malleable意思是“易受影响的,可塑的”,比如人们经常用malleable来形容小孩容易被环境塑造。放在本文语境中,强大的AI能够为你定制内容。不管你有多么小众,AI都能够影响到你。这一点让人类的骄傲荡然无存,因此是“不幸的”。
At this point, I feel like a popcorn eater with the best seat in the theatre. (Sidenote: Quite possibly in this case no tech is able to predict what it's like to be me, except when this is published then ok it's free for all). It's like watching that movie that changed a lot of our lives Everything Everywhere All At Once, except in this case, I don't think it will be the idea of love that will save the day. 
作者将自己比作在电影院看戏的观众,目睹AI碾压而过却什么也做不了。这里还致敬了电影Everything Everywhere All At Once(瞬息全宇宙),在影片中是母爱拯救了一切。然而作者认为面对AI,“爱”也无能为力。
In this boundless sea of existence, where anything is possible, where nothing matters, I think it will be purity of thought, that being exactly who you are will be enough. With this I fare thee well.
第一句出现了省略,相当于I think it will be purity of thought, that being exactly who you are (that) will be enough,即“我认为思想纯净、做自己,已然足够”。
With this I fare thee well. 句子中thee属于古英语,相当于you。莎士比亚的戏剧里面就经常出现thee这一用法,比如Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 作者在这里用thee可以显得更加正式典雅。

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