I’m sitting in a small boat in Shark Bay, Australia, eavesdropping(偷听，窃听) on a conversation between some of Earth’s most intelligent beings. The motor is off, the turquoise sea is glassy, and Stephanie King and I are motionless, transfixed(被牢牢吸引，动弹不得) by the whistles, clicks and squeezy, whirring(嗡嗡作响的) noises made by the dolphins swimming below us.
我坐在澳大利亚鲨鱼湾的一条小船上，偷听地球上最聪明的物种之一在交谈。马达熄了，碧绿的海面如镜，我和斯蒂芬妮·金一动不动，被船下游动的海豚发出的哨声、咔嗒声以及那种挤压般的嗡鸣声牢牢吸引。
If anyone could tell me what these big-brained social mammals are saying, it would be her. Based at the University of Bristol, she co-leads(共同领导，联合主持) Shark Bay Dolphin Research, one of the longest-running(持续时间最长的……之一) wild dolphin research projects in the world. She has spent thousands of hours watching and listening to this population.
如果有人能告诉我这些大脑发达、群居的哺乳动物在说什么，那非她莫属。她供职于布里斯托大学，联合主持“鲨鱼湾海豚研究”——世界上持续时间最长的野生海豚研究项目之一。她已花费数千小时观察和聆听这个种群。
Like most other animal behaviorists(行为学家), King is increasingly integrating(整合，融入) artificial intelligence into her research process. “If it’s used responsibly, AI can transform what we can do with the data we collect,” she says. But when I ask her if AI will someday allow us to “speak dolphin”, she stiffens(（身体）僵住，绷紧) a little. “I think we’re doing the animals a disservice(对动物有害，帮倒忙) by focusing on that question,” she says.
和大多数动物行为学家一样，金正越来越多地把人工智能融入研究过程。“如果使用得当，AI能彻底改变我们利用所收集数据的方式，”她说。但当我问她，AI有朝一日能否让我们“说海豚语”时，她微微僵住了。“我认为，把注意力放在这个问题上，反而对动物有害，”她说。