人工智能技術(shù)被譽(yù)為“革命”,為了推動(dòng)該領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展,人類已經(jīng)投入數(shù)十億美元。不過在著名歷史學(xué)家和哲學(xué)家尤瓦爾·諾亞·赫拉利看來,人工智能是可能導(dǎo)致人類滅絕的“外來物種”。
“人工智能與歷史上任何事物相比,跟其他發(fā)明相比,不管是核武器還是印刷術(shù)都完全不一樣?!?月12日,赫拉利在英國倫敦的CogX Festival上對(duì)觀眾說。赫拉利是暢銷書《未來簡(jiǎn)史》(Homo Deus: A Brief History of Humankind)和《人類簡(jiǎn)史》(Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)的作者。
“這是歷史上第一個(gè)可以自行做決定的工具。原子彈自己做不了決定。轟炸日本廣島的決定是人類做的?!?/p>
赫拉利說,獨(dú)立思考能力造成的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是,超智能機(jī)器最終可能取代人類主宰世界。
“我們可能要面臨人類歷史的終結(jié)——也就是人類統(tǒng)治的終結(jié)。”他警告道?!霸诮酉聛淼膸啄昀铮斯ぶ悄芎芸赡苎杆傥杖祟愃形幕?,從石器時(shí)代以來(所有成就),開始產(chǎn)生外來智慧的新文化。”
赫拉利表示,由此會(huì)引發(fā)一個(gè)問題,即這項(xiàng)技術(shù)不僅會(huì)影響周圍的物理世界,還會(huì)對(duì)心理學(xué)和宗教等方面造成影響。
“從某些方面來看,人工智能或許比人類更有創(chuàng)造力。”他表示?!罢f到底,人類的創(chuàng)造力受到有機(jī)生物學(xué)限制。而人工智能是無機(jī)智能,真的像外星智慧?!?/p>
“如果我說五年后會(huì)出現(xiàn)外來物種,也許非常好,沒準(zhǔn)還能夠治愈癌癥,但將奪走人類控制世界的力量,人們會(huì)感到恐懼?!?/p>
“這就是當(dāng)前面臨的情況,不過(威脅)并非來自外太空,而是來自美國加州?!?/p>
人工智能進(jìn)化
過去一年,OpenAI推出的生成式人工智能聊天機(jī)器人ChatGPT驚人崛起,成為該領(lǐng)域重大投資的催化劑。一時(shí)間,科技巨頭競(jìng)相開發(fā)全世界最尖端的人工智能系統(tǒng)。
然而赫拉利指出,人工智能領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展速度太迅猛,“所以非??膳隆?。赫拉利曾經(jīng)在作品中縱觀人類的過去和未來。
“如果跟有機(jī)進(jìn)化相比,人工智能現(xiàn)在就像(變形蟲)——在有機(jī)進(jìn)化過程中花了數(shù)十萬年才變成恐龍?!彼贑ogX Festival上告訴人們?!坝辛巳斯ぶ悄苤?,變形蟲可能10年或20年就會(huì)演化成霸王龍。問題之一是人類沒有時(shí)間適應(yīng)。其實(shí)人類是極擅長適應(yīng)的生物……但需要時(shí)間,現(xiàn)在適應(yīng)的時(shí)間不夠?!?/p>
人類下一個(gè)“巨大而可怕的實(shí)驗(yàn)”?
赫拉利承認(rèn),以前類似蒸汽機(jī)和飛機(jī)之類技術(shù)創(chuàng)新也曾經(jīng)引發(fā)對(duì)人類安全的警告,但“最終結(jié)果還好”。他堅(jiān)稱,在人工智能方面“結(jié)果可能不會(huì)好?!?/p>
“人類不擅長新技術(shù),經(jīng)常犯大錯(cuò)誤,所以總要做實(shí)驗(yàn)?!彼f。
赫拉利指出,例如在工業(yè)革命期間,人類就犯過“一些可怕的錯(cuò)誤”,而歐洲帝國主義、納粹主義也是“巨大而可怕的實(shí)驗(yàn),曾經(jīng)奪走數(shù)十億人的生命”。
“我們花了一個(gè)世紀(jì),一個(gè)半世紀(jì)的時(shí)間,才從失敗的實(shí)驗(yàn)中恢復(fù)。”他表示。“也許這次我們無法安然度過。即便最終人類獲勝,又有多少億人會(huì)在這個(gè)過程里喪失生命。”
引發(fā)分裂的技術(shù)
隨著人工智能越發(fā)普遍,該技術(shù)到底會(huì)帶來復(fù)興還是世界末日,專家的意見并不一致。
在今年夏天僅受邀參加的耶魯大學(xué)首席執(zhí)行官峰會(huì)(Yale CEO Summit)上,近一半受訪首席執(zhí)行官表示,相信在未來五年到十年內(nèi),人工智能有可能摧毀人類。
早在今年3月,包括埃隆·馬斯克和蘋果(Apple)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫·沃茲尼亞克在內(nèi)1,100名著名技術(shù)人員和人工智能研究人員聯(lián)名發(fā)布公開信,呼吁研發(fā)強(qiáng)大人工智能系統(tǒng)的工作暫停六個(gè)月。他們指出,相關(guān)人工智能系統(tǒng)有可能變成威脅人類文明的超級(jí)智能。
特斯拉(Tesla)和太空探索技術(shù)公司(SpaceX)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人馬斯克在不同場(chǎng)合表示,該技術(shù)會(huì)“像小行星一樣”沖擊人類,還警告稱可能“像電影《終結(jié)者》(Terminator)一樣”。此后,他成立了自己的人工智能公司xAI,稱目標(biāo)是為了“了解宇宙”,并防止人類滅絕。
然而并非所有人都同意馬斯克的觀點(diǎn),即超級(jí)智能機(jī)器可能消滅人類。
8月,1,300多名專家聯(lián)合發(fā)聲,希望平息人們對(duì)人工智能造出一群“邪惡機(jī)器人霸主”的焦慮,其中所謂的人工智能三教父之一直指,擔(dān)心該技術(shù)可能威脅生存“荒謬至極”。
Meta的一位高管尼克·克萊格在最近一次采訪中也在努力安撫人們對(duì)該技術(shù)的擔(dān)心,他堅(jiān)稱當(dāng)前的大型語言模型“相當(dāng)愚蠢”,完全達(dá)不到拯救或摧毀文明的程度。
“時(shí)間至關(guān)重要”
赫拉利表示,盡管對(duì)人工智能發(fā)出了嚴(yán)重警告,采取措施防止最糟糕的預(yù)測(cè)成為現(xiàn)實(shí)還有時(shí)間。
“在人工智能搶下方向盤之前,人類還有幾年時(shí)間,我不知道有多久,人類擁有掌控能力的時(shí)間或許還有五年、十年、30年。”他說?!斑@些年的時(shí)間應(yīng)該非常謹(jǐn)慎地使用。”
他建議采取三個(gè)實(shí)際步驟降低人工智能的風(fēng)險(xiǎn):不給機(jī)器人言論自由,不讓人工智能偽裝成人類,對(duì)人工智能領(lǐng)域的重大投資征稅用來資助監(jiān)管和能夠協(xié)助控制技術(shù)的機(jī)構(gòu)。
“很多人在努力推進(jìn)相關(guān)舉措。”他說,“我希望盡快(實(shí)施),因?yàn)闀r(shí)間至關(guān)重要。”
他還敦促人工智能領(lǐng)域的從業(yè)人員認(rèn)真考慮,在全世界鋪開創(chuàng)新是否最符合地球的利益。
“不能僅僅阻止技術(shù)發(fā)展,但開發(fā)和使用應(yīng)該分開?!彼f?!伴_發(fā)出來并不意味著必須使用。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:夏林
人工智能技術(shù)被譽(yù)為“革命”,為了推動(dòng)該領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展,人類已經(jīng)投入數(shù)十億美元。不過在著名歷史學(xué)家和哲學(xué)家尤瓦爾·諾亞·赫拉利看來,人工智能是可能導(dǎo)致人類滅絕的“外來物種”。
“人工智能與歷史上任何事物相比,跟其他發(fā)明相比,不管是核武器還是印刷術(shù)都完全不一樣?!?月12日,赫拉利在英國倫敦的CogX Festival上對(duì)觀眾說。赫拉利是暢銷書《未來簡(jiǎn)史》(Homo Deus: A Brief History of Humankind)和《人類簡(jiǎn)史》(Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind)的作者。
“這是歷史上第一個(gè)可以自行做決定的工具。原子彈自己做不了決定。轟炸日本廣島的決定是人類做的?!?/p>
赫拉利說,獨(dú)立思考能力造成的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)是,超智能機(jī)器最終可能取代人類主宰世界。
“我們可能要面臨人類歷史的終結(jié)——也就是人類統(tǒng)治的終結(jié)?!彼娴??!霸诮酉聛淼膸啄昀铮斯ぶ悄芎芸赡苎杆傥杖祟愃形幕?,從石器時(shí)代以來(所有成就),開始產(chǎn)生外來智慧的新文化?!?/p>
赫拉利表示,由此會(huì)引發(fā)一個(gè)問題,即這項(xiàng)技術(shù)不僅會(huì)影響周圍的物理世界,還會(huì)對(duì)心理學(xué)和宗教等方面造成影響。
“從某些方面來看,人工智能或許比人類更有創(chuàng)造力?!彼硎?。“說到底,人類的創(chuàng)造力受到有機(jī)生物學(xué)限制。而人工智能是無機(jī)智能,真的像外星智慧?!?/p>
“如果我說五年后會(huì)出現(xiàn)外來物種,也許非常好,沒準(zhǔn)還能夠治愈癌癥,但將奪走人類控制世界的力量,人們會(huì)感到恐懼?!?/p>
“這就是當(dāng)前面臨的情況,不過(威脅)并非來自外太空,而是來自美國加州。”
人工智能進(jìn)化
過去一年,OpenAI推出的生成式人工智能聊天機(jī)器人ChatGPT驚人崛起,成為該領(lǐng)域重大投資的催化劑。一時(shí)間,科技巨頭競(jìng)相開發(fā)全世界最尖端的人工智能系統(tǒng)。
然而赫拉利指出,人工智能領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展速度太迅猛,“所以非??膳隆?。赫拉利曾經(jīng)在作品中縱觀人類的過去和未來。
“如果跟有機(jī)進(jìn)化相比,人工智能現(xiàn)在就像(變形蟲)——在有機(jī)進(jìn)化過程中花了數(shù)十萬年才變成恐龍?!彼贑ogX Festival上告訴人們?!坝辛巳斯ぶ悄苤Γ冃蜗x可能10年或20年就會(huì)演化成霸王龍。問題之一是人類沒有時(shí)間適應(yīng)。其實(shí)人類是極擅長適應(yīng)的生物……但需要時(shí)間,現(xiàn)在適應(yīng)的時(shí)間不夠。”
人類下一個(gè)“巨大而可怕的實(shí)驗(yàn)”?
赫拉利承認(rèn),以前類似蒸汽機(jī)和飛機(jī)之類技術(shù)創(chuàng)新也曾經(jīng)引發(fā)對(duì)人類安全的警告,但“最終結(jié)果還好”。他堅(jiān)稱,在人工智能方面“結(jié)果可能不會(huì)好?!?/p>
“人類不擅長新技術(shù),經(jīng)常犯大錯(cuò)誤,所以總要做實(shí)驗(yàn)?!彼f。
赫拉利指出,例如在工業(yè)革命期間,人類就犯過“一些可怕的錯(cuò)誤”,而歐洲帝國主義、納粹主義也是“巨大而可怕的實(shí)驗(yàn),曾經(jīng)奪走數(shù)十億人的生命”。
“我們花了一個(gè)世紀(jì),一個(gè)半世紀(jì)的時(shí)間,才從失敗的實(shí)驗(yàn)中恢復(fù)。”他表示。“也許這次我們無法安然度過。即便最終人類獲勝,又有多少億人會(huì)在這個(gè)過程里喪失生命?!?/p>
引發(fā)分裂的技術(shù)
隨著人工智能越發(fā)普遍,該技術(shù)到底會(huì)帶來復(fù)興還是世界末日,專家的意見并不一致。
在今年夏天僅受邀參加的耶魯大學(xué)首席執(zhí)行官峰會(huì)(Yale CEO Summit)上,近一半受訪首席執(zhí)行官表示,相信在未來五年到十年內(nèi),人工智能有可能摧毀人類。
早在今年3月,包括埃隆·馬斯克和蘋果(Apple)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫·沃茲尼亞克在內(nèi)1,100名著名技術(shù)人員和人工智能研究人員聯(lián)名發(fā)布公開信,呼吁研發(fā)強(qiáng)大人工智能系統(tǒng)的工作暫停六個(gè)月。他們指出,相關(guān)人工智能系統(tǒng)有可能變成威脅人類文明的超級(jí)智能。
特斯拉(Tesla)和太空探索技術(shù)公司(SpaceX)的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人馬斯克在不同場(chǎng)合表示,該技術(shù)會(huì)“像小行星一樣”沖擊人類,還警告稱可能“像電影《終結(jié)者》(Terminator)一樣”。此后,他成立了自己的人工智能公司xAI,稱目標(biāo)是為了“了解宇宙”,并防止人類滅絕。
然而并非所有人都同意馬斯克的觀點(diǎn),即超級(jí)智能機(jī)器可能消滅人類。
8月,1,300多名專家聯(lián)合發(fā)聲,希望平息人們對(duì)人工智能造出一群“邪惡機(jī)器人霸主”的焦慮,其中所謂的人工智能三教父之一直指,擔(dān)心該技術(shù)可能威脅生存“荒謬至極”。
Meta的一位高管尼克·克萊格在最近一次采訪中也在努力安撫人們對(duì)該技術(shù)的擔(dān)心,他堅(jiān)稱當(dāng)前的大型語言模型“相當(dāng)愚蠢”,完全達(dá)不到拯救或摧毀文明的程度。
“時(shí)間至關(guān)重要”
赫拉利表示,盡管對(duì)人工智能發(fā)出了嚴(yán)重警告,采取措施防止最糟糕的預(yù)測(cè)成為現(xiàn)實(shí)還有時(shí)間。
“在人工智能搶下方向盤之前,人類還有幾年時(shí)間,我不知道有多久,人類擁有掌控能力的時(shí)間或許還有五年、十年、30年?!彼f?!斑@些年的時(shí)間應(yīng)該非常謹(jǐn)慎地使用?!?/p>
他建議采取三個(gè)實(shí)際步驟降低人工智能的風(fēng)險(xiǎn):不給機(jī)器人言論自由,不讓人工智能偽裝成人類,對(duì)人工智能領(lǐng)域的重大投資征稅用來資助監(jiān)管和能夠協(xié)助控制技術(shù)的機(jī)構(gòu)。
“很多人在努力推進(jìn)相關(guān)舉措?!彼f,“我希望盡快(實(shí)施),因?yàn)闀r(shí)間至關(guān)重要?!?/p>
他還敦促人工智能領(lǐng)域的從業(yè)人員認(rèn)真考慮,在全世界鋪開創(chuàng)新是否最符合地球的利益。
“不能僅僅阻止技術(shù)發(fā)展,但開發(fā)和使用應(yīng)該分開?!彼f?!伴_發(fā)出來并不意味著必須使用。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:夏林
Billions of dollars are being poured into the development of AI, with the technology being hailed as a “revolution”—but famed historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari sees it as an “alien species” that could trigger humanity’s extinction.
“AI is fundamentally different from anything we’ve seen in history, from any other invention, whether it’s nuclear weapons or the printing press,” Harari—the bestselling author of Homo Deus and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind—told an audience at CogX Festival in London on September 12.
“It’s the first tool in history that can make decisions by itself. Atom bombs could not make decisions. The decision to bomb Hiroshima was taken by a human.”
The risk that comes with this ability to think for itself, Harari said, is that superintelligent machines could ultimately end up usurping the human race as the world’s dominant power.
“Potentially we are talking about the end of human history—the end of the period dominated by human beings,” he warned. “It’s very likely that in the next few years, it will eat up all of human culture, [everything we’ve achieved] since the Stone Age, and start spewing out a new culture coming from an alien intelligence.”
This raises questions, according to Harari, about what the technology will do not just to the physical world around us, but also to things like psychology and religion.
“In certain ways, AI can be more creative [than people],” he argued. “In the end, our creativity is limited by organic biology. This is a nonorganic intelligence. It’s really like an alien intelligence.
“If I said an alien species is coming in five years, maybe they will be nice, maybe they will cure cancer, but they will take our power to control the world from us, people would be terrified.
“This is the situation we’re in, but instead of coming from outer space, [the threat is] coming from California.”
AI evolution
The phenomenal rise of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, over the past year has been a catalyst for major investment in the space, with Big Tech entering into a race to develop the most cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems in the world.
But it’s the pace of development in the AI space, according to Harari—whose written works have examined humanity’s past and future—that “makes it so scary.”
“If you compare it to organic evolution, AI now is like [an amoeba]—in organic evolution, it took them hundreds of thousands of years to become dinosaurs,” he told the crowd at CogX Festival. “With AI, the amoeba could become a T. rex within 10 or 20 years. Part of the problem is we don’t have time to adapt. Humans are amazingly adaptable beings…but it takes time, and we don’t have this time.”
Humanity’s next “huge and terrible experiment”?
Conceding that previous technological innovations, such as the steam engine and airplanes, had sparked similar warnings about human safety and that “in the end it was okay,” Harari insisted when it came to AI, “in the end is not good enough.”
“We are not good with new technology, we tend to make big mistakes, we experiment,” he said.
During the Industrial Revolution, for example, mankind had made “some terrible mistakes,” Harari noted, while European imperialism, Nazism had also been “huge and terrible experiments that cost the lives of billions of people.”
“It took us a century, a century and a half, of all these failed experiments to somehow get it right,” he argued. “Maybe we don’t survive it this time. Even if we do, think about how many hundreds of millions of lives will be destroyed in the process.”
Divisive technology
As AI becomes more and more ubiquitous, experts are divided on whether the tech will deliver a renaissance or doomsday.
At the invitation-only Yale CEO Summit this summer, almost half of the chief executives surveyed at the event said they believed AI has the potential to destroy humanity within the next five to 10 years.
Back in March, 1,100 prominent technologists and AI researchers—including Elon Musk and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak—signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on the development of powerful AI systems. They pointed to the possibility of these systems already being on a path to superintelligence that could threaten human civilization.
Tesla and SpaceX cofounder Musk has separately said the tech will hit people “l(fā)ike an asteroid” and warned there is a chance it will “go Terminator.” He has since launched his own AI firm, xAI, in what he says is a bid to “understand the universe” and prevent the extinction of mankind.
Not everyone is on board with Musk’s view that superintelligent machines could wipe out humanity, however.
Last month, more than 1,300 experts came together to calm anxiety around AI creating a horde of “evil robot overlords,” while one of the three so-called Godfathers of A.I. has labeled concerns around the tech becoming an existential threat “preposterously ridiculous.”
Top Meta executive Nick Clegg also attempted to quell concerns about the technology in a recent interview, insisting that large language models in their current form are “quite stupid” and certainly not smart enough yet to save or destroy civilization.
“Time is of the essence”
Despite his own dire warnings about AI, Harari said there was still time for something to be done to prevent the worst predictions from becoming a reality.
“We have a few years, I don’t know how many—five, 10, 30—where we are still in the driver’s seat before AI pushes us to the back seat,” he said. “We should use these years very carefully.”
He suggested three practical steps that could be taken to mitigate the risks around AI: Don’t give bots freedom of speech, don’t let artificial intelligence masquerade as humans, and tax major investments into AI to fund regulation and institutions that can keep the technology under control.
“There are a lot of people trying to push these and other initiatives forward,” he said. “I hope we do [implement them] as soon as possible, because time is of the essence.”
He also urged those working in the AI space to consider whether unleashing their innovations on the world was really in the planet’s best interests.
“We can’t just stop the development of technology, but we need to make the distinction between development and deployment,” he said. “Just because you develop it, doesn’t mean you have to deploy it.”