One winter morning, a couple of years ago, I was driving to work in Johannesburg, South Africa, and noticed a haze hanging over the city.
几年前的一个冬天的早上，我开车去南非约翰内斯堡上班，注意到城市上空笼罩着一片雾霾。
I make that drive on most days, so it was unusual that I hadn't noticed this before.
大多数时候我都会开车，所以我以前没有注意到这一点很不寻常。
Johannesburg is known for its distinctive skyline, which I could barely see that morning.
约翰内斯堡以其独特的天际线而闻名，那天早上我几乎看不到天际线。
It didn't take long for me to realize that I was looking at an enormous cloud of air pollution.
没过多久，我就意识到我看到的是一团巨大的空气污染云。
The contrast between the scenic environment I knew and this smog-covered skyline stirred up something within me.
我所知道的风景环境和这片被烟雾覆盖的天际线之间的对比激起了我内心的一些东西。
I was appalled by the possibility of this city of bright and vivid sunsets being overrun by a dull haze.
我对这座拥有明亮生动日落的城市可能会被沉闷的雾霾所淹没感到震惊。
At that moment, I felt an urge to do something about it, but I didn't know what.
那一刻，我有一种想做点什么的冲动，但我不知道该做什么。
All I knew was I couldn't just stand idly by.
我只知道我不能袖手旁观。
The main challenge was, I didn't know much about environmental science air-quality management or atmospheric chemistry.
主要的挑战是，我对环境科学、空气质量管理或大气化学了解不多。
I am a computer engineer, and I was pretty sure I couldn't code my way out of this air pollution problem.
我是一名计算机工程师，我非常确定我无法通过编码来解决空气污染问题。
Who was I to do anything about this issue?
我是谁，有资格对这个问题采取任何行动？
I was but a citizen.
我只是一个公民。
In the following years, I learned a very important lesson, a lesson we all need to take to heart if we are to work towards a better future.
在接下来的几年里，我学到了非常重要的一课，如果我们要朝着更美好的未来努力，我们都需要牢记这一课。
Even if you're not an expert in a particular domain, your outside expertise may hold the key to solving big problems within that domain.
即使您不是某个特定领域的专家，您的外部专业知识也可能是解决该领域重大问题的关键。
Sometimes the unique perspective you have can result in unconventional thinking that can move the needle, but you need to be bold enough to try.
有时，你的独特观点可能会导致非常规思维，从而推动指针，但你需要足够大胆地尝试。
That's the only way you'll ever know.
这是你知道的唯一方法。
What I knew back then was that if I was even going to try to make a difference, I had to get smart about air pollution first,
当时我所知道的是，如果我要尝试做出改变，我必须首先对空气污染采取明智的态度，
and so I became a student again.
就这样我又成为了一名学生。
I did a bit of basic research and soon learned that air pollution is the world's biggest environmental health risk.
我做了一些基础研究，很快就了解到空气污染是世界上最大的环境健康风险。
Data from the World Health Organization shows that almost 14 percent of all deaths worldwide in 2012 were attributable to household and ambient air pollution,
世界卫生组织的数据显示，2012年全球近14%的死亡归因于家庭和环境空气污染，
with most occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
其中大多发生在低收入和中等收入国家。
Ambient air pollution alone causes more deaths each year than malaria and HIV/AIDS.
仅环境空气污染每年造成的死亡人数就超过了疟疾和艾滋病毒/艾滋病。
In Africa, premature deaths from unsafe sanitation or childhood malnutrition pale in comparison to deaths due to air pollution,
在非洲，不安全的卫生设施或儿童营养不良导致的过早死亡与空气污染导致的死亡相比相形见绌，
and it comes at a huge economic cost: over 400 billion US dollars as of 2013,
它带来了巨大的经济成本：截至2013年，超过4000亿美元，
according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
根据经济合作与发展组织的一项研究。
Now, in my work, I explore new frontiers for artificial intelligence,
现在，在我的工作中，我探索人工智能的新前沿，
where the symbiotic relationship between man and machine can find a beneficial footing and help us to make better decisions.
人与机器之间的共生关系可以找到有益的立足点并帮助我们做出更好的决策。
As I thought about the air pollution problem, it became clear that we needed to find a way to make better decisions about how we manage air pollution,
当我思考空气污染问题时，我们很明显需要找到一种方法来就如何管理空气污染做出更好的决定，
and given the scale of the problem, it was necessary to do it in a collaborative way.
考虑到问题的规模，有必要以协作的方式来解决这个问题。
So I decided I'd better get to know some people working within the field.
所以我决定最好认识一些在该领域工作的人。
I started to speak to officials from the City of Johannesburg and other surrounding cities, and I engaged the local scientific community,
我开始与约翰内斯堡市和其他周边城市的官员交谈，并与当地科学界进行接触，
and I also made a few cold calls.
我还打了几个电话。
The process of engagement I embarked upon helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the problem.
我开始的参与过程帮助我对这个问题有了更深入的了解。
It also helped me to avoid the trap people in my profession sometimes fall into when trying to innovate,
它还帮助我避免了从事我职业的人在尝试创新时有时会陷入的陷阱，
where we are quick to apply a technology before we've firmly grasped the problem at hand.
在我们牢牢抓住手头的问题之前，我们就可以快速应用一项技术。
I began to develop an idea about what I could do to improve the situation.
我开始思考我可以做些什么来改善这种情况。
I started by simply asking myself how I could bring together in some meaningful way my skills in software engineering and artificial intelligence and the expertise of the people I'd reached out to.
我首先简单地问自己如何以某种有意义的方式将我在软件工程和人工智能方面的技能以及我接触过的人的专业知识结合起来。
I wanted to create an online air-quality management platform that would uncover trends in pollution and project into the future to determine what outcomes can be expected.
我想创建一个在线空气质量管理平台，该平台将发现污染趋势并预测未来，以确定可以预期的结果。
I was determined to see my idea translate into a practical solution, but I faced uncertainty and had no guarantee of success.
我决心将我的想法转化为实际的解决方案，但我面临着不确定性，并且无法保证成功。
What I had was a very particular set of engineering skills,
我拥有的是一套非常特殊的工程技能，
skills I'd acquired over my career that were new to people who had been working on the air pollution problem for so many years.
我在职业生涯中获得的技能对于多年来一直致力于空气污染问题的人们来说是新鲜的。
What I have come to realize is that sometimes just one fresh perspective, one new skill set,
我逐渐意识到，有时只要一个新的视角，一套新的技能，
can make the conditions right for something remarkable to happen.
可以为非凡的事情发生创造条件。
Our willpower and imagination are a guiding light, enabling us to chart new paths and navigate through obstacles.
我们的意志力和想象力是指路明灯，使我们能够开辟新的道路并克服障碍。
Armed with a firmer understanding of the air pollution problem,
随着对空气污染问题有了更深入的了解，
and having managed to source over a decade's worth of data on air pollutant levels and the meteorological conditions for in and around Johannesburg,
并设法收集了十多年来约翰内斯堡及其周边地区空气污染物水平和气象条件的数据，
my colleagues from South Africa and China and myself created an air-quality decision support system that lives in the cloud.
我来自南非和中国的同事和我自己创建了一个位于云中的空气质量决策支持系统。
This software system analyzes historical and real-time data to uncover the spatial-temporal trends in pollution.
该软件系统分析历史和实时数据，以揭示污染的时空趋势。
We then used new machine learning technology to predict future levels of pollution for several different pollutants days in advance.
然后，我们使用新的机器学习技术提前几天预测几种不同污染物的未来污染水平。
This means that citizens can make better decisions about their daily movements and about where to settle their families.
这意味着公民可以更好地决定自己的日常行动以及在哪里安家。
We can predict adverse pollution events ahead of time, identify heavy polluters,
我们可以提前预测不利污染事件，识别重污染者，
and they can be ordered by the relevant authorities to scale back their operations.
相关当局可以命令他们缩减运营规模。
Through assisted scenario planning, city planners can also make better decisions about how to extend infrastructure,
通过辅助场景规划，城市规划者还可以就如何扩展基础设施做出更好的决策，
such as human settlements or industrial zones.
例如人类住区或工业区。
We completed a pilot of our technology that was run over a period of 120 days, covering all of South Africa.
我们完成了技术的试点，运行了120天，覆盖整个南非。
Our results were confirmed when we demonstrated a tight correlation between the forecasting data and the data we were getting on the ground.
当我们证明预测数据和我们实地获得的数据之间存在密切相关性时，我们的结果得到了证实。
Through our leadership, we have brought cutting-edge,
通过我们的领导，我们带来了尖端、
world-leading assets that can perform air-quality forecasting at an unprecedented resolution and accuracy,
世界领先的资产，可以以前所未有的分辨率和准确性进行空气质量预测，
benefiting the city that I drove into one winter morning not very long ago, and thought to myself, "Something is wrong here.
不久前一个冬天的早上，我开车进入了这座城市，心里想：“这里出了问题。
I wonder what can be done?"
我想知道能做什么？"
So here is the point: What if I'd not investigated the problem of air pollution further?
所以重点是：如果我不进一步调查空气污染问题怎么办？
What if I'd not shown some concern for the state of the environment and just hoped that someone, somewhere, was taking care of the matter?
如果我没有对环境状况表现出一些担忧，而只是希望某个地方有人来处理这件事怎么办？
What I have learned is that, when embarking on a challenging endeavor that advances a cause that we firmly believe in,
我了解到，当开始一项具有挑战性的努力以推进我们坚信的事业时，
it is important to focus on the possibility of success and consider the consequence of not acting.
重要的是要关注成功的可能性并考虑不采取行动的后果。
We should not get distracted by resistance and opposition, but this should motivate us further.
我们不应该被抵抗和反对分散注意力，但这应该进一步激励我们。
So wherever you are in the world, the next time you find that there's some natural curiosity you have that is being piqued,
因此，无论你身在世界上，下次当你发现自己天生的好奇心被激发时，
and it's about something you care about, and you have some crazy or bold ideas, and perhaps it's outside the realm of your expertise,
这是关于你关心的事情，你有一些疯狂或大胆的想法，也许这超出了你的专业知识范围，
ask yourself this: Why not?
问问自己：为什么不呢？
Why not just go ahead and tackle the problem as best as you can, in your own way?
为什么不继续以自己的方式尽你所能解决这个问题呢？
You may be pleasantly surprised.
你可能会感到惊喜。
Thank you.
谢谢
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