考研 MTI经济学人资料技术政治Technology politicsPlaying with fireGoogle runs into more flak on artificial intelligence技术政治玩火谷歌在人工智能领域遭遇更多抨击DISCOVERING and harnessing fire unlocked more nutrition from food, feeding the bigger brains and bodies that are the hallmarks of modern humans. Googles chief executive, Sundar Pichai, thinks his companys development of artificial intelligence trumps that. “AI is one of the most important things that humanity is working on,” he told an event in California earlier this year. “Its more profound than, I dont know, electricity or fire.”火的发现和利用让人类从食物中获得了更多的营养，来供养更大的大脑和身体这些现代人类的标志。谷歌的首席执行官桑达尔·皮查伊(Sundar Pichai)认为，他的公司对人工智能(AI)的开发比火的意义还要大。“AI 是人类正在做的最重要的事情之一，”今年早些时候他在加州的一次活动上说，“我猜，它的影响比电或火更加深远。”Hyperbolic analogies aside, Googles AI techniques are becoming more powerful and more important to its business. But its use of AI is also generating controversy, both among its employees and the wider AI community.撇开这种夸张的类比不说，谷歌的 AI技术确实正变得愈发强大，对其业务也愈加重要。但它对 AI的应用也引发了争议，无论是在其员工内部还是在更广泛的 AI圈里。One recent clash has centred on Googles work with Americas Department of Defence (DoD). Under a contract signed in 2017 with the DoD, Google offers AI services, namely computer vision, to analyse military images. This might well improve the accuracy of strikes by military drones. Over the past month or so thousands of Google employees, including Jeff Dean, the firms AI chief, have signed a petition protesting against the work; at least 12 have resigned. On June 1st the boss of its cloud business, Diane Greene, conceded to those employees that the firm would not renew the contract when it expires next year.最近的一次争论围绕谷歌与美国国防部的合作展开。2017 年谷歌与国防部签署合同，为其提供名为计算机视觉的AI服务，用来分析军事图像。这很可能会提高军用无人机打击的精准度。在过去一个月左右的时间里，包括谷歌 AI主管杰夫·迪恩(Jeff Dean)在内的数千名公司员工签署了一份反对这项工作的请愿书，已有至少 12人辞职。6月 1日，谷歌云计算业务主管戴安·格林(Diane Greene)向这些员工做出让步，表示明年这份与国防部的合同到期时将不再续签。The tech giant also published a set of seven principles which it promises will guide its use of AI. These included statements that the technology should be “socially beneficial” and “built and tested for safety”. More interesting still was what Google said it would not do. It would “proceed only where we believe that the benefits substantially outweigh the risks,” it stated. It eschewed the future supply of AI services to power smart weapons or norm-violating surveillance techniques. It would, though, keep working with the armed forces in other capacities.这家科技巨头还发布了七大原则，承诺将以此指导公司对 AI的应用。其中包括 AI技术应该“对社会有益”、“开发及测试要以安全为导向”。更有趣的是谷歌称自己不会去做的事。它表示将“只在我们确信好处大大超过风险的领域继续推进 AI”。它还表示，未来不会提供 AI服务来支持智能武器或违反普遍准则的监视技术。不过，它仍将在其他领域继续与军方合作。Googles retreat comes partly because its AI talent hails overwhelmingly from the computer-science departments of American universities, notes Jeremy Howard, founder of Fast.ai, an AI research institute. Many bring liberal, anti-war views from academia with them, which can put them in direct opposition with the firm in some areas. Since AI talent is scarce, the firm has to pay heed to the principles of its boffins, at least to some extent.AI研究机构 Fast.ai的创始人杰里米·霍华德(Jeremy Howard)指出，谷歌做出让步一定程度上是因为它的 AI人才大多来自美国各大高校的计算机系。许多人从学术界带来了自由、反战的观点，这可能会令他们在某些领域与公司直接对立。由于 AI人才稀缺，谷歌必须认真理会技术专家们的这些信条，至少在一定程度上得如此。Military work is not the only sticking-point for Googles use of AI. On June 7th a batch of patent applications made by DeepMind, a London-based sister company, were made public. The reaction was swift. Many warned that the patents would have a chilling effect on other innovators in the field. The patents have not yet been grantedindeed, they may not bebut the request flies in the face of the AI communitys accepted norms of openness and tech-sharing, says Miles Brundage, who studies AI policy at the University of Oxford. The standard defence offered on behalf of Google is that it does not have a history of patent abuse, and that it files them defensively in order to protect itself from future patent trolls. DeepMinds patent strategy is understood to be chiefly defensive in nature.军事项目并不是谷歌运用 AI的唯一分歧点所在。6 月 7日，它位于伦敦的姊妹公司 DeepMind的一批专利申请被公开。各方迅速作出反应。许多人警告说，这些专利会对该领域的其他创新者产生寒蝉效应。牛津大学研究 AI政策的迈尔斯·布伦戴奇(Miles Brundage)表示，这些专利尚未获批，实际上可能也不会获批，但是这些申请公然违反了 AI圈开放与技术共享的公认准则。那些为谷歌说话的人提出的理由都围绕着一点：谷歌不曾滥用专利权，它是为防范未来遭专利流氓侵扰而做出的防御举动。他们认为 DeepMind的专利战略在本质上主要是防御性的。Whatever Googles intent, there are signs that the homogeneity of the AI community may lessen in future. New paths are being created to join the AI elite, other than a PhD in computer science. Hopefuls can take vocational courses offered by firms such as Udacity, an online-education firm; the tech giants also offer residencies to teach AI techniques to workers from different backgrounds. That might just lead to a less liberal, less vocal AI community. If so, such courses might serve corporate interests in more ways than one.无论谷歌的意图如何，有迹象表明 AI圈的同质性在未来可能有所减弱。除了拿到计算机科学的博士学位，一些跻身 AI精英圈子的新途径正被开拓出来。种子选手们可以选择在线教育公司优达学城(Udacity)等企业提供的职业课程;科技巨头们也提供培训项目，向不同背景的员工教授AI技术。这可能会导致 AI圈变得不那么自由开放，也没那么勇于发声。如果是这样，那么这些课程可能会在很多方面都为公司的利益服务。