Questão 57

(FUVEST - 2008 - 1ª FASE) Japanese researchers

have spent five years developing a humanoid robot

system that can understand

(5) and respond to simultaneous

speakers. They posit a

restaurant scenario in which

the robot is a waiter. When

three people stand before the

(10) robot and simultaneously

order pork cutlet meals or

French dinners, the robot

understands at about 70

percent comprehension,

(15) responding by repeating each order and giving the total price. This process takes less

than two seconds and, crucially, requires no prior voice training.

Such auditory powers mark a fundamental challenge

(20) in artificial intelligence – how to teach machines to pick out

significant sounds amid the hubbub. This is known as the

cocktail party effect, and most machines do not do any better than humans who have had a few too many

martinis.

Scientific American, August 2007.

Segundo o texto, num cenário de restaurane, o robô