新科學家精讀：我們迫切需要擴大對人工智慧的討論

It was supposed to be a meeting of minds – scientific, cultural and artificial. A recent closed-door colloquium held at a top British university brought together two dozen leading AI researchers and a group of illustrious humanities scholars to address philosophical questions raised by AI. In the event, however, the two contingents struggled to find common ground. The engineers described their work in precise, dense terms, mostly skipping over its implications. The scholars, too, critiqued the descriptions rather than tackling the implications; some seemed affronted by the very idea of thinking machines. That』s a pity, because we really need fresh thinking on AI.

Public discussion is dominated by scary stories about the elimination of human workers – or of humans, full stop. Meanwhile, machine learning applications are quietly becoming integral to our daily lives, with little consideration of the consequences. Those consequences are myriad, poorly understood, and evolving rapidly. AIs are now involved in many decisions that significantly affect our lives. But there is also growing evidence that they aren』t necessarily ready to shoulder all the responsibilities they are being given.

Machine learning alone may be fine when it comes to optimising, say, your power usage. But in less clear-cut tasks, such as healthcare, the combination of human and machine can be more effective. Then there』s the problem of 「algorithmic bias」 in AI decision-making.

Artificial intelligence really has made great strides in recent years, so much so that initial awe at these machines』 uncanny abilities is giving way to hucksterism. But for all their smarts, the machines can』t tell us how we could best deploy them. For that, we need people willing to engage in a genuine meeting of minds.

Word ＆ Expression

1. Broaden

1) v. 擴大，變闊

The trails broadened into roads. （trail n. 小徑）

小徑變寬成大路了。

2) 同義替換：enlarge；extend

3) 搭配： broaden one』s horizons拓寬視野

2. Artificial

1) adj. 人造的；仿造的；虛偽的

The city is dotted with small lakes, natural and artificial. （be dotted with 點綴著）

這座城市滿是天然和人造的小湖泊。

2) 同義替換：synthetic；arbitrary

3) 搭配：artificial intelligence人工智慧

3. Illustrious

1) adj. 著名的，傑出的；輝煌的

It is a city whose past is more illustrious than its present, and there is a relief, an ease in this.

這是一座其過去比現在更為輝煌的城市，而這帶來一種解脫感和輕鬆自如。

2) 同義替換：famous；noted；excellent；prominent；brilliant

4. Scholar

1) n. 學者；獎學金獲得者

The library attracts thousands of scholars and researchers.

這家圖書館吸引了數千名學者和研究人員。

2) 搭配：visiting scholar訪問學者

research scholar研究學者；研究員

5. Contingent

1) n. 分遣隊

Nigeria provided a large contingent of troops to the West African Peacekeeping Force.

奈及利亞向西非維和部隊派出了一大批部隊。

6. Struggle to

1) 奮力；掙扎

We should make the best use of the situation and guide the struggle to victory.

我們應當因勢利導， 奪取鬥爭勝利。

7. Common ground

1) 共同點，一致點

With these states, we will stand firm on our principles even as we seek common ground.

我們在與這些國家尋求共同點的同時，也將堅定不移地堅持我們的原則。

8. precise

1) adj. 精確的；明確的；嚴格的

The precise cause of the disease is unknown.

造成這種疾病的確切原因尚不清楚。

2) 同義替換：accurate

3) 搭配：to be more precise更確切地說

precise information精確資料

precise instrument精密儀器

8. Dense

1) adj. 密集的的；濃厚的；

A dense column of smoke rose several miles into the air. （column n.柱形）

一柱濃煙升上幾英里高的天空。

2) 搭配：dense population稠密的人口

dense fog濃霧

9. Skip over

1) 略過

This code is essentially the same for all the document models in this article, so Ill skip over it in the remaining examples without any discussion.

(essentially adv. 本質上)

這些代碼與本文中所有文檔模型的代碼在本質上是相同的，所以在剩餘的示例 中我將跳過它，不再做任何討論。

10. Implication

1) n. 含義；暗示

The Attorney General was aware of the political implications of his decision to prosecute. (be aware of 知道；意識到 prosecute v. 起訴 )總檢察長知道自己起 訴的決定可能引起的政治後果。

2) 同義替換：connotation；meaning；reminder

3) 搭配：by implication含蓄地；暗示地

11. Critique

1) n. 批評；評論

She had brought a book, a feminist critique of Victorian lady novelists.

她帶來了一本書，一本從女權主義角度對維多利亞時期女小說家進行的評論。

2) 同義替換：comment

3) 搭配：Positive Critique 建設性批判

Critique spirit 批判精神

12. Affront

1) n. 輕蔑

Its an affront to human dignity to keep someone alive like this.

讓一個人如此活著是對人類尊嚴的一種侮辱。

v. 冒犯；面對

This will result in a waste of resources and could even affront the very individuals we are working to support.

這將帶來資源的浪費，甚至可能會冒犯我們正努力援助的那些人。

2) 同義替換：offend；insult

13. Be dominated by

1) 由……主導；；受……支配

As in other countries, elections in India tend to to be dominated by grand national issues. （grand adj.極重要的 ）

與其他國家一樣，印度的選舉往往不受重大國家問題的支配。

14. Elimination

1) n. 消除；淘汰

Strong productivity growth has been achieved partly through the elimination of many mid-skilled jobs.

生產力的強勁增長部分是通過消除許多中等技能的工作來實現的

2) 搭配：noise elimination雜訊消除

15. Integral

1) adj.完整的，整體的

Rituals, celebrations, and festivals form an integral part of every human society. （ritual n. 典禮 ）

儀式、慶典和節日是每個人類社會不可缺少的組成部分。

2) 同義替換：complete；fullintact

3) 搭配：integral structure整體結構

16. Myriad

1) adj. 無數的；種種的

They face a myriad of problems bringing up children. （bring up 撫育，養育）

他們在撫養孩子上面臨著各種問題。

2) 同義替換：countless；innumerable

3) 搭配: a myriad of大量的；無數的

17. Shoulder

1) v. 肩負，承擔

The residents are being asked to shoulder the costs of the repairs.

居民們被要求承擔這筆修理費用。

2) 同義替換：undertake

18. Algorithmic bias

1) 演算法偏差（Algorithmic adj. [數] 演算法的）

19. Intelligence

1) n. 智力；理解力 Superior intelligence and the use of language distinguish man from the other primates. （primate 靈長類的動物）

高超的智力和語言的運用使人類有別於其他靈長目動物。

2) 同義替換：brain；mind；mentality；understanding

3) 搭配：artificial intelligence人工智慧

intelligence quotient智商（縮寫為IQ）

intelligence development智力發展

20. Make great strides

1) 進展迅速，突飛猛進

It is thanks to his intuition that we have his theory of relativity today, which has allowed science to make great strides. （intuition n. 直覺 ）

正是有了他的直覺才有了今天的相對論，它使得科學朝前邁出一大步。

21. Initial

1) adj. 最初的；字首的

When their initial lure had played out ,the pioneers of the west found other attractions to induce them to stay on.（pioneer n. 先鋒；拓荒者 induce v. 誘導；引誘 ）

這些西部拓荒者的最初的誘惑力逐漸消失之後，他們又轉而尋找別的興趣誘使他們繼續留下。

2) 同義替換：premier；original

3) 搭配：initial condition初始條件

initial datan 原始數據

22. Awe

1) n. 敬畏；畏怯

She gazed in awe at the great stones. （gaze v. 凝視；注視）

她敬畏地凝視著那些巨石。

2) 同義替換：fear

3) 搭配：stand in awe of敬畏

23. Uncanny

1) adj. 神秘的；離奇的

They have uncannily similar voices.

他們有著出奇相似的嗓音。

2) 同義替換：extraordinary；mysterious

24. Give way to

1) 讓路，退讓；屈服，投降

We did not give way to bitterness.

我們沒有給苦難和怨恨讓路。（bitterness n. 苦難；怨恨）

25. Hucksterism

1) 大吹大擂推銷商品的言論（huckster v. 叫賣；討價還價）

Yet the roots of astrology arent as ridiculous as the hucksterism that seems to surround professional fortunetellers. （astrology n. 占星術；占星學 ridiculous adj. 可笑的；荒謬的 ）

不過，相比充斥在專業占卜者中的街頭小販，占星學的源頭並不那樣荒謬。

26. Engage in

1) 從事；參加

The goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable.

我們的目標是能從事那些對個人既有意義有能讓之享受的事情。

27. Genuine

1) adj. 真實的；誠懇的

If this offer is genuine, I will gladly accept it.

如果這份幫助是真誠的，我將愉快地接受它。

2) 同義替換：actual；sincere；positive

3) 搭配：genuine leather真皮

參考翻譯

它應該是一個思想的集合——科學的，文化的，人工的。最近，英國一所頂尖 大學舉行了一場閉門討論會，召集了二十多位著名的人工智慧研究人員和一群 傑出的人文學者，來解決人工智慧提出的哲學問題。然而，在這次事件中，兩 個團隊奮力尋找共同點。工程師們用精確的、密集的術語來描述他們的工作， 大部分忽略了它的含義。學者們也批評了這些描述，而不是解決這些含義;有些 人似乎對思考機器的想法感到抵觸。學者們也批評了這些對現象的描述，但沒 有解決人工智慧帶來的影響；有些人似乎覺得被思維機器這一想法冒犯了。有 些人似乎，這很遺憾，因為我們真的需要對人工智慧進行新的思考。

公眾討論主要是關於消除人類工人或人類的可怕故事。與此同時，機器學習應 用程序正悄然成為我們日常生活不可或缺的一部分，幾乎沒有考慮到後果。這 些後果是無窮的，難以理解的，並且發展迅速。人工智慧現在參與了許多重大 影響我們生活的決定。但也有越來越多的證據表明，他們並沒有準備好承擔所 有他們被給予的責任。

機器學習在優化，比如說，電力使用方面。但在醫療保健等不那麼明確的任務 中，人類和機器的結合可能更有效。然後就是人工智慧決策過程中的「演算法偏 差」問題。

人工智慧在近年來確實取得了巨大的進步，以至於最初對這些機器「不可思議的 能力」的敬畏正被「營銷論」所取代。但對於他們所有的智慧，機器不能告訴我們 如何最好地部署它們。為此，我們需要人們參與到真正的頭腦大會中來。

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