A Russian A.T.M. 1 With an Ear for the Truth 2

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1 A Russian A.T.M. 1 With an Ear for the Truth 2 THE NEW YORK TIMES By Andrew E. Kramer June 8, 2011 MOSCOW Russia s biggest retail bank 3 is testing a machine that the old K.G.B. 4 might have loved 5, an A.T.M. with a built-in 6 lie detector 7 intended to prevent consumer credit 8 fraud. Consumers with no previous relationship with the bank could talk to the machine to apply for 9 a credit card, with no human intervention required on the bank s end. 10 The machine scans 11 a passport, records fingerprints and takes a three-dimensional scan for facial recognition. 12 And it uses voice-analysis software to help assess 13 whether the person is truthfully answering questions that include Are you employed? and At this moment, do you have any other outstanding 14 loans? 15 The big bank involved, Sberbank, whose majority owner is the Russian government, said it intended to install the new machines in malls 16 and bank branches 17 around the country eventually, but had not yet scheduled 18 the rollout. 19 Technology consultants 20 say the machines, if they go into commercial use, would be the banking world s first use of voice analysis in A.T.M. s. While Sberbank s technology might strike 21 Westerners 22 as too intrusive, many Russians already assume 23 the government can watch or listen to them when it chooses to. Sberbank executives 24 said the new A.T.M. s would adhere to 25 Russian privacy laws. It was the global financial crisis, partly prompted 26 by loans that people could not or would not repay, that prompted Sberbank to tap 27 Russia s national security experts as it set out 28 to automate most banking activities, said a senior vice president for technology at the bank. The software detects nervousness or emotional distress, 29 possible indications that a credit applicant is dissembling. 30 That information would be used in combination with other data, including credit history. 31 Sberbank is hardly alone 32 in looking over the horizon at new types of banking automation. Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, for example, are testing futuristic technologies in a handful 33 of bank branches in Berlin, New York and Tokyo. Those banks say their efforts focus on new types of interactive displays 34 and touch-screen terminals, 35 such as a table top 36 made by Microsoft that senses 37 documents and other items placed on it.

2 And credit approvals by A.T.M. are already a fact of financial life in Turkey, for one, where the bank machines are helping fuel 38 a consumer credit boom 39 that some analysts fear could spiral into 40 a debt crisis. But Sberbank may be unique so far 41 in trying to turn A.T.M. s into truth machines. 42 A prototype of the machine is on display at Sberbank s Branch of the Future laboratory in a nondescript 43 office building 44 above a Moscow subway 45 station. Sberbank says that to comply with 46 the part of the privacy law that would prohibit 47 a company from keeping a database of customers voice signature 48, the bank plans to store customers voice prints 49 on chips contained in their credit cards. the Sberbank vice president, said that to address 50 privacy concerns the bank also planned to make consumers aware of the types of information, including biometrics, 51 that the A.T.M. would be collecting. But the Speech Technology Center says even people who know about the voice-stress program 52 would have trouble fooling 53 it, because it measures involuntary nervous responses, the way a polygraph 54 test does. Of course, we don t believe this technology 100 percent, said the Sberbank executive. A client might be nervous for reasons unrelated to a credit application, for example. He said it was merely 55 a statistical guide. And he said the voice analysis was no more invasive than checking a credit history.

3 1 A.T.M. [Automated Teller Machine]: bancomat, sportello bancario automatico. Also known as a Cash Point, Cash Machine. In BE it is sometimes called Hole in the Wall. 2 With an Ear for truth: letteralmente: avere orecchio per la verità. È un gioco di parole per spigare che il bancomat in questione è in grado di ascoltare e analizzare la voce umana per stabilire se il cliente è sincero o mente. Con l espressione to have an ear for something si intende in genere avere orecchio per la musica o le lingue. 3 Retail bank: una banca che si occupa di retail banking, cioè la tradizionale attività bancaria la cui principale caratteristica è avere una clientela vasta ed eterogenea e svolgere un elevato numero di operazioni il cui ammontare unitario è medio basso. 4 K.G.B.: the common abbreviation for the Russian Committee for State Security: Comitato per la Sicurezza dello Stato. It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until Might have loved [love, loved, loving, loves]: nel testo si fa riferimento al KGB russo, quindi l espressione si potrebbe tradurre in italiano con ( che il KGB) avrebbe potuto apprezzare o che forse sarebbe piaciuta (al KGB). Per maggiori approfondimenti sul verbo might si rimanda alla scheda Grammar Tips di sui verbi modali. 6 Built in: forming an integral part of a structure or object: incorporato, integrato. Si noti che l aggettivo deriva dal phrasal verb to build in che vuol dire incassare, inserire, incorporare, e si forma unendo il participio passato del verbo e la relativa preposizione con un trattino. Per approfondire il tema delle parole composte si rimanda alla scheda grammaticale di Grammar Tips on Compound words. 7 Lie detector: an instrument for detecting bodily changes (as an increase in heart rate) that are considered to go along with lying. The word is formed from lie which means an untruth and detector which is an uncoverer, a revealer: macchina della verità. 8 Consumer credit: credito al consumo. 9 Apply for [applied, applying, applies]: to make an official request for permission to do or have something. Il sostantivo è application. Presentare una domanda si dice to make an application. 10 On the bank s end [end] : da parte della banca. È interessante notare, come si evince dalla traduzione proposta, che qui la parola end non significa fine ma the part that you have in an activity or situation. 11 Scans [ scan, scanned, scanning, scans]: to digitally encode (a text, for example) with an optical scanner: scansionare, scannerizzare. 12 Facial recognition: riconoscimento facciale. 13 Assess [assessed, assessing, assesses]: to carefully consider a situation, person, or problem in order to make a judgment: valutare, stimare. 14 Outstanding: qui: still in existence, not settled or resolved: in sospeso, insoluto, arretrato. Se avete la sensazione di ricordare qualcosa di diverso non vi sbagliate, infatti il primo significato di questo aggettivo è excellent, cioè eccezionale, notevole. 15 Loans [loan]: an amount of money that a person, business, or country borrows, especially from a bank: prestito, mutuo. 16 Malls [mall]: a usually large suburban building or group of buildings containing shops and often restaurants with connecting passageways: centro commerciale. Ma da dove deriva questo termine? La parola mall è la forma abbreviata di pall mall (pall=palla + mall=maglio), il nome di un gioco in voga in Inghilterra nel XVII secolo e originario dell Italia, la pallamaglio. Si tratta di un gioco simile al croquet, che consisteva nel colpire una palla di legno con una mazza o maglio, spingendola lungo un vicolo e poi attraverso un cerchio sollevato da terra. Con il tempo la parola mall ha cominciato ad essere utilizzata per indicare questi vicoli, molti dei quali sono divenuti viali o passeggiate. Uno dei più famosi, The Mall, si trova a Londra, collega Buckingham Palace a Trafalgar Square. Questo viale nacque proprio come luogo di passeggio della corte di Carlo II, usanza che si può replicare anche oggi nelle giornate domenicali, quando viene chiuso al traffico. Poco distante vi è un'altra strada chiamata Pall Mall. Oggi la parola si riferisce comunemente ad un centro commerciale. 17 Bank branches[bank branch]: filiale di banca. 18 Scheduled [schedule, scheduled, scheduling, schedules]: to plan for something to happen at a particular time: mettere in programma, fissare. 19 Rollout: the introduction of a new product, especially when it gradually becomes available in a large number of places: lancio ufficiale di un prodotto o servizio. Ancora un esempio di un sostantivo che deriva da un phrasal verb, roll+out, che significa: to offer or sell (something) for the first time, to launch.

4 20 Technology consultants [technology consultant]: a technology consultant provides support and system design expertise to companies and businesses looking to implement or upgrade an information technology network: consulente/esperto informatico. 21 Strike [struck, struck/stricken, striking, strikes]: qui: to cause somebody to think about someone or something in a particular way. Spesso + as: His behavior struck me as odd. [=his behavior seemed odd to me]. She strikes us as a very brilliant comedian [=we think she is a very brilliant comedian]. In italiano si può tradurre con: sembrare o parere che, avere l impressione, colpire. 22 Westerners [westerner]: occidentale, abitante dell occidente. Westerners: gli occidentali 23 Assume [assumed, assuming, assumes]:: supporre, presumere. Il sostantivo è assumption: ipotesi, supposizione. 24 Executives [executive]: a senior manager in a business or other organisations: dirigente. 25 Adhere to [adhered, adhering, adheres]: qui: to agree; to observe; to act in conformity with: osservare, rispettare. 26 Prompted [prompt, prompted, prompting, prompts]: provocare, scatenare, ma anche, indurre, spingere qualcuno a fare qualcosa. 27 Tap [tapped, tapping, taps ]: qui: to designate, to select. 28 Set out [set, set, setting, sets]:qui: take the first step or steps in carrying out an action : cominciare a fare, organizzare, preparare. 29 Emotional distress: mental distress or anxiety suffered as a response to a sudden, severe, and saddening experience: tensione emotiva, stress emotivo. 30 Dissembling [dissemble, dissembled, dissembling, dissembles]: to hide your real intentions and feelings or the facts: dissimulare, fingere. 31 Credit history: a record of an individual or company's past borrowing and repaying behaviour: storia creditizia, informazioni creditizie. 32 Is hardly alone: qui: non è certo la sola a/l unica a. 33 Handful: qui: un piccolo numero, poche, un gruppetto. 34 Interactive displays [interactive display]: schermo interattivo. 35 Touch screen terminals [touch screen terminal]: A touch screen device generally used for conference, business and service applications. It allows the user to directly interact with a computer without secondary equipment like a mouse or keyboard. Most touch screen terminals only need finger pressure, though a stylus can be used. Touch screens have on screen instructions with selectable choices. Applying pressure to a choice selects it. In italiano si chiama schermo tattile, ma è comunemente indicato con il termine inglese. 36 Table top [anche tabletop]: surface pc or tabletop computer: computer integrato in un tavolino (tabletop) che si comanda con lo sfioramento delle dita. In particolare, quello della Microsoft, citato nell articolo, è costituito da uno schermo Lcd in orizzontale interattivo da 30 pollici, dotato di apposita tecnologia di riconoscimento degli oggetti fisici e di cinque telecamere a infrarossi montate all interno dello schermo che rivelano l identità degli oggetti, interagendo con il microchip che contiene le informazioni in formato elettronico sugli oggetti stessi. 37 Senses [ sense, sensed, sensing, senses ] : qui: to detect automatically: rilevare. L altro significato del verbo to sense è percepire, avvertire, intuire: she sensed his sorrow; to sense danger. 38 Fuel [fueled/fuelled, fueling/fuelling, fuels]:qui: to provide the necessary conditions for something: favorire, stimolare, alimentare. Il sostantivo fuel significa infatti carburante e rifornirsi di carburante si dice: to refuel. 39 Boom: a sudden increase in the activity of a particular industry or part of a country s economy: boom, crescita, aumento improvviso. 40 Spiral into [spiralled/spiralled, spiraling/spiralling, spirals]: qui: to continuously become worse: degenerare, peggiorare vertiginosamente. 41 So far: up till now: fino ad ora, per ora. 42 Truth machines [truth machine]: lie detector: macchina della verità. 43 Nondescript: adjective coined from non + the Latin word descriptus: not easily described, lacking distinct or individual characteristics: insignificante, anonimo. 44 Office building: edificio/palazzo adibito ad uffici. 45 Subway: metropolitana in AE, attenzione però, nel Regno Unito si dice underground ma a Londra si chiama tube.

5 46 Comply with [complied, complying, complies]: to conform, submit, or adapt as required or requested: osservare, rispettare, conformarsi a. 47 Prohibit from [prohibited, prohibiting, prohibits]: to order somebody not to use or do something: proibire a qualcuno di fare, vietare. Si noti che il verbo è seguito dalla preposizione from che regge la forma in -ing. 48 Voice signature: firma vocale. 49 Voice prints [voice print]: a voiceprint is a set of measurable characteristics of a human voice that uniquely identifies an individual. These characteristics, which are based on the physical configuration of a speaker's mouth and throat, can be expressed as a mathematical formula. The term applies to a vocal sample recorded for that purpose, the derived mathematical formula, and its graphical representation: impronta vocale. 50 Address [ addressed, addressing, addresses]: qui: to try to deal with a problem or question, for example by thinking carefully about it, or by doing things to improve a situation: affrontare, occuparsi di. 51 Biometrics: methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral trait: biometria, dati biometrici. 52 Voice stress program: a software purported to detect stress in a human voice and to ascertain a person's truthfulness: software che misura il livello di stress nella voce. 53 Fooling [fool, fooled, fooling, fools]: to make somebody believe something that is not true, to trick somebody: ingannare, imbrogliare, prendere in giro. 54 Polygraph: lie detector, truth machine: poligrafo, macchina della verità. 55 Merely: meramente, soltanto, semplicemente. È un avverbio che può essere reso in italiano utilizzando diverse locuzioni, come nei seguenti esempi: his behaviour merely damaged his carreer: il suo comportamento non ha fatto che danneggiare la sua carriera; merely thinking about it scares me: mi spaventa solo a pensarci.