Machine-learning excels in spotting unusual patterns of transactions, which can indicate fraud. Firms ranging from startups such as Feedzai (for payments) or Shift Technology (for insurance) to behemoths such as IBM are offering such services. Some are developing the skills in-house. Monzo, a British banking startup, built a model quick enough to stop would-be fraudsters from completing a transaction, bringing the fraud rate on its pre-paid cards down from 0.85% in June 2016 to less than 0.1% by January 2017.
spot [spɑt] n. a small round area that has a different color or feels different from the surface it is on斑点；a small dirty mark on sth污迹；污渍；脏点
v. to see or notice a person or thing, especially suddenly or when it is not easy to do so看见；看出；注意到；发现
*If you spot any mistakes in the article just mark them with a pencil. 如果你发现文章中有错误，请用铅笔标出来。
startup adj. connected with starting a new business or project (新企业或工程)开办阶段的，启动时期的
n. a company that is just beginning to operate, especially an Internet company刚成立的公司，新企业(尤指互联网公司)
behemoth [bɪ'himɔθ] a very big and powerful company or organization超级公司(或机构)
would-be desiring, attempting, or professing to be想要成为的：希望、试图或声明要成为的
*a would-be rock star想成为摇滚明星的人
机器学习擅于发现不寻常的交易模式，而这种异常背后可能存在欺诈。从Feedzai（面向支付业务）或Shift Technology（面向保险业务）这类创业公司，到IBM这样的巨头都在提供此类服务。有些企业正在自行研发这样的技术。英国银行业创业公司Monzo建立了一个模型，能够及时阻止诈骗嫌疑人完成交易，这令它的预付费卡欺诈率从2016年6月的0.85%降至2017年1月的不到0.1%。
Natural-language processing, where AI-based systems are unleashed on text, is starting to have a big impact in document-heavy parts of finance. In June 2016 JPMorgan Chase deployed software that can sift through 12,000 commercial-loan contracts in seconds, compared with the 360,000 hours it used to take lawyers and loan officers to review the contracts.
Natural-language processing 自然语言处理（NLP）。它研究能实现人与计算机之间用自然语言进行有效通信的各种理论和方法。自然语言处理是一门融语言学、计算机科学、数学于一体的科学。
unleash [ʌnˈliʃ] v. to suddenly let a strong force, emotion, etc. be felt or have an effect发泄；突然释放；使爆发
*At worst, nuclear war could be unleashed.最坏的情况是，可能会爆发核战争。
commercial-loan contract 商业贷款合同
loan officer 信贷员；贷款人员
自然语言处理将人工智能系统的威力释放到文字上，开始对金融业繁重的文书工作产生巨大影响。2016年6月，摩根大通部署了几秒内能筛查1.2万份商业贷款合同的软件。换在过去，审查这些合同要耗费律师和信贷员36万个小时。
Machine-learning is also good at automating financial decisions, whether assessing creditworthiness or eligibility for an insurance policy. Zest Finance has been in the business of automated credit-scoring since its founding in 2009. Earlier this year, it rolled out a machine-learning underwriting tool to help lenders make credit decisions, even for people with little conventional credit-scoring information. It sifts through vast amounts of data, such as people’s payment history or how they interact with a lender’s website. Lemonade, a tech-savvy insurance startup, is using machine-learning both to sell insurance policies and to manage claims.
creditworthiness ['kredit,wə:θinis] the degree to which a person, organization, or country is considered likely to pay back money that they borrow 信用可靠程度
insurance policy 保险单，保单
roll out to offer a new product or service to the public推出，首次公开
rollout n. an occasion when a company introduces or starts to use a new product新产品发布会；新产品的推出
tech-savvy 科技通；精通技术的；精通科技的
机器学习还擅长自动化金融决策，无论是评估信用还是保单的投保资格。Zest Finance自2009年成立后就从事自动化信用评分业务。今年早些时候，该公司推出了一款机器学习信贷审核工具，可帮助贷款方做出信贷决策，甚至可以决定是否贷款给那些几乎没有传统信用评分信息的人。该工具筛查大量的数据，如这些人的付款历史，或是他们与贷款方网站的互动。精通科技的保险创业公司Lemonade既利用机器学习来卖保险，也用它来管理索赔。
Perhaps the newest frontier for machine-learning is in trading, where it is used both to crunch market data and to select and trade portfolios of securities. The quantitative-investment strategies division at Goldman Sachs uses language processing driven by machine-learning to go through thousands of analysts’ reports on companies. It compiles an aggregate “sentiment score” based on the balance of positive to negative words. This score is then used to help pick stocks. Goldman has also invested in Kensho, a startup that uses machine-learning to predict how events like natural disasters will affect market prices, based on data on similar events.
crunch [krʌntʃ] n. the act or sound of crunching嘎吱声；发出嘎吱声的行为
v. to chew with a noisy crackling sound嘎吱嘎吱地咀嚼；to perform operations on; manipulate or process (numerical or mathematical data) 运行；处理（数字或数学数据）
*I pored over the books with great enthusiasm, often crunching the numbers until 1:00 a.m.我兴致勃勃地研究这些账簿，经常计算到凌晨1点。
go through If you go through a lot of things such as papers or clothes, you look at them, usually in order to sort them into groups or to search for a particular item. 翻阅；翻找；整理
*It was evident that someone had gone through my possessions.显然有人翻过我的物品。
If you go through a list, story, or plan, you read or check it from beginning to end. 通读；彻查
*Going through his list of customers is a massive job.查阅他的客户名单是个相当费劲的活儿。
机器学习的最新应用领域可能是在交易上，人们用它来分析市场数据，以及选择并交易证券投资组合。高盛的量化投资部门用机器学习驱动的语言处理技术来通读分析师撰写的成千上万份公司研报。该技术根据积极言论和消极言论的数量对比，编制出一个综合的“情绪评分”，然后用这一评分来帮助选择股票。高盛还投资了Kensho，这家创业公司根据自然灾害等事件的有关数据，用机器学习预测这些事件将如何影响市场价格。
■一句一练■
Firms ranging from startups such as Feedzai (for payments) or Shift Technology (for insurance) to behemoths such as IBM are offering such services.
这一句中的ranging from…to…表示范围从…到…，这大家都知道，但汉语表述的时候可以采用另一种方法，不一定非要翻译为从……到……。可以这样翻译：有许多公司都在提供此类服务，大到IBM这样的超级公司，小至Feedzai（面向支付业务）或Shift Technology（面向保险业务）等创业公司。
