新加坡用機器人補充服務業勞動力
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are feared by many in Europe and the US, with scientists warning of mass unemployment. But in Singapore, where restrictions on foreign workers have left many companies struggling for staff, service sector businesses are increasingly finding automated solutions to their workforce crunch.
人工智能領域的快速進步讓歐美的許多人感到擔憂，科學家們警告稱，這可能導致大規模失業。但在新加坡，服務行業的企業越來越發現機器人可以解決它們人手緊張的問題——新加坡限制外國工人就業讓許多公司很難招到員工。
From restaurants to hospitals, robots are being rolled out in a government-backed push to help businesses survive a tight labour market.
在政府爲幫助企業在供應緊張的勞動力市場存活下去而推出的舉措下，從飯店到醫院，多種機構均出現了機器人的身影。
Louis Tan, chief operating officer of Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Novena hospital, said: “The government is clamping down on foreign workers — there is difficulty in hiring even skilled workers. Technology has turned out to be one of the solutions.”
新加坡伊麗莎白諾維娜醫院(Mount Elizabeth Novena)首席運營官Louis Tan表示：“新加坡政府正在限制外國工人——哪怕僱傭熟練工人也很困難。事實證明，技術是解決方案之一。”
The hospital, a private medical facility run by the Parkway Pantai group, has turned to IBM’s Watson technology as an automated “nurse” to monitor patients’ vital signs in its intensive care unit.
這家醫院藉助IBM的“沃森”(Watson)技術推出了機器人“護士”來監護重症病房中的病人的關鍵體徵。伊麗莎白諾維娜醫院是百匯班臺集團(Parkway Pantai)運營的私立醫療服務機構。
The AI technology combines information from indicators such as blood pressure and heart rate, and uses a predictive algorithm to calculate the risk of a patient’s condition getting worse.
人工智能技術結合血壓、心率等指標信息，並使用預測性算法來計算患者病情惡化的風險。
“In the past that required human integration and interpretation,” Mr Tan said. “And now we are using data analytics to help drive this.”
Louis Tan表示：“在過去，這需要人類加以整合和解讀。現在我們使用數據分析學來幫助解讀。”
The pilot, which was launched this year, has improved patient safety, Mr Tan added.
他補充稱，今年推出的試點項目讓病人更加安全。
He said: “It doesn’t mean nurses are absolved of responsibility. It just means they have another aid. It’s more efficient and safer for the patients.”
他說：“這並不意味着護士無事可幹了。它僅僅意味着她們又有了一個助手，提高了她們照顧病患的效率和安全性。”
At Chilli Padi Nonya café, a restaurant serving a hybrid Malay-Chinese cuisine near the National University of Singapore, dirty dishes are gathered by a robotic waiter that trundles between tables chirping: “Could you help me to clear your table?”
在辣椒香娘惹餐廳(Chilli Padi Nonya)，穿梭於桌子間的機器人侍者收拾着髒碟子，還能用清脆的聲音問道：“你能幫我收拾下桌子嗎？”該餐館位於新加坡國立大學(National University of Singapore)附近，提供馬來菜和中國菜。
The machine lacks the ability to pick up cups and plates itself. Instead customers place their used crockery in a tray it carries back to the kitchen.
這種機器人無法自己拿起杯子和碟子。顧客們將他們用過的餐具放到托盤上，然後由機器人拿回廚房。
Kannan Thangaraj, the restaurant’s manager, said: “In Singapore it’s very difficult to get manpower from overseas, so it’s very helpful to get a robot. The customers are coming back because of the robot. They like to see it.”
餐廳經理卡納安•坦加拉賈(Kannan Thangaraj)表示：“在新加坡，從海外招募人手非常困難，因此使用機器人非常有幫助。顧客們因爲機器人而成爲回頭客。他們喜歡看到機器人。”
So far, only a handful of restaurants are involved in trial usage of the robots. One deterrent is cost: the company which makes the machines, Singapore-based Unitech Mechatronics, sells them for S$47,000 (US$34,340).
迄今爲止，只有少數幾家餐館在試用機器人。成本是一個障礙：總部位於新加坡的機器人制造公司Unitech Mechatronics對機器人的定價在4.7萬新元（合3.434萬美元）。
The government provides a subsidy of nearly 70 per cent of the robot’s cost for the restaurant trial, the company said.
該公司表示，新加坡政府爲試用機器人的餐館提供近70%的成本補貼。
Also in Singapore, a research and development centre for MasterCard has designed the first payment application for SoftBank Robotics’ humanoid robot Pepper.
同樣在新加坡，萬事達(MasterCard)的一家研發中心爲軟銀機器人(SoftBank Robotics)的仿人機器人Pepper設計了首個支付應用。
Outlets of Pizza Hut in Asia will use the robot to take some customer orders and process card payments in a trial expected to take place this year. The goal is to free waiters for more complex interactions with customers.
亞洲的必勝客(Pizza Hut)門店將有望在今年試用Pepper接受一些顧客的訂單並處理銀行卡支付。目標是讓侍者解放出來，處理與顧客的更爲複雜的互動。
In this year’s budget, Singapore’s government announced plans to spend more than S$450m over the next three years to back the deployment of robots, with a focus on providing affordable robotics to small and medium-sized enterprises.
新加坡在今年的預算中宣佈，計劃在今後3年斥資逾4.5億新元支持企業配備機器人，重點是向中小企業提供它們負擔得起的機器人。
But the push to innovate has not been universally welcomed; in one Singapore restaurant piloting a robot dish-collector, the machine was smashed to pieces by a member of staff.
但這種創新舉措並未普遍受到歡迎；在新加坡一家試用機器人收拾盤子的餐館裏，一位員工將機器人打得粉身碎骨。
While there has been a global boom in the use of industrial robots, with 248,000 units sold in 2015 according to research by the International Federation of Robotics, sales of service sector robots have lagged behind.
儘管全球範圍內已經在大量使用工業機器人——國際機器人聯合會(International Federation of Robotics)的調查顯示，2015年工業機器人銷量爲24.8萬臺——但服務業機器人的銷量要少得多。
Sales of service robots rose to about 24,000 units in 2014 compared with just under 22,000 the year before.
2014年，服務業機器人的銷量升至約2.4萬臺，而2013年還不到2.2萬臺。
Analysts predict that the worldwide market for service industry robots is poised to take off, as technical advances allow robots to perform more complex tasks and work in more unpredictable environments.
分析師預計，隨着科技進步使得機器人能夠執行更加複雜的任務並在更加不可預測的環境中工作，全球範圍內服務行業機器人的銷量將會飆升。
In Japan, where robots are widely used in manufacturing, the government has launched a push to increase their use in services including healthcare and nursing homes.
在製造業廣泛使用機器人的日本，政府出臺措施，推動包括醫療保健和居家護理在內的服務行業增加機器人的使用。
