The Assistant That Misheard

Saoirse uses a voice assistant on her phone. She asks it to add things to her list. Most mornings, it understands her just fine. Today, she is in a hurry before school.

西尔莎在手机上用语音助手。她让它把东西加到她的清单里。大多数早晨，它都能听懂她的话。今天，她上学前很匆忙。

"Add milk to my list," Saoirse says quickly. "Adding 'mill tour' to your calendar," the assistant replies.

“把牛奶加到我的清单里，”西尔莎快速地说。“正在把‘六点来’添加到你的日历，”助手回答。

Saoirse stops and stares at her phone. "That is not what I said," she says.

西尔莎停下来，盯着手机。“我不是这么说的，”她说。

She opens her calendar to check. A new event sits there: "Mill Tour, Friday."

她打开日历查看。那里多了一个新日程：“六点来，周五”。

Saoirse laughs out loud at the mistake. She deletes the strange calendar event fast.

西尔莎对这个错误哈哈大笑。她赶紧删掉了那个奇怪的日程。

She tries again, speaking slowly and clearly. "Add. Milk. To. My. Shopping. List," she says.

她再试一次，说得又慢又清楚。“添加。牛奶。到。我的。购物。清单，”她说。

The assistant pauses, then answers calmly. "Milk added to your shopping list," it says.

助手停了一下，然后平静地回答。“牛奶已添加到你的购物清单，”它说。

Saoirse checks the list on her screen. "Milk" sits right there, spelled correctly.

西尔莎查看屏幕上的清单。“牛奶”就在那里，写得没错。

She adds a few more items carefully. "Add eggs and bread to my list too."

她又小心地加了几样东西。“也把鸡蛋和面包加到我的清单里。”

The assistant repeats each item back to her. "Eggs and bread added to your shopping list."

助手把每样东西都向她复述了一遍。“鸡蛋和面包已添加到你的购物清单。”

Saoirse smiles and grabs her school bag. "That works," she says, and walks out the door. Her shopping list waits, correct and complete. On the bus, she reads it one last time. No mill tours, just milk, eggs, and bread.

西尔莎笑了笑，拿起书包。“这样就对了，”她说，然后走出门去。她的购物清单正等着她，准确又完整。在公交车上，她又读了最后一遍。没有什么六点来，只有牛奶、鸡蛋和面包。