2020年高考英语外刊时事命题阅读理解：人工智能让家居生活更加轻松Stress-free with 5G

Stress-free with 5G 人工智能让家居生活更加轻松 After a long and busy day at school or work, all we want to do is return to a clean and comfortable home. Smart technology can turn any home into a nicer place to live. You can now turn your thermostat (恒温器) up, lock your doors and play your music with a simple voice command. In fact, smart homes have actually been around for some time. Scottish company Pico Electronics invented a communication protocol (协议) called X10 back in 1975. With radio waves, this protocol allowed users to communicate with various devices (设备) in their homes, such as lights and alarms, according to AVSytemsMag, a magazine dedicated to the AV and automation (自动化) industry. Of course, 4G – and now 5G – wireless technology makes smart homes much more sophisticated (复杂的) and powerful than X10 devices. Perhaps the most widespread smart home technology is the voice-activated (声控的) assistant. Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa allow users to interact (互动) with nearly any device in their h