【考研英语】同源文详解75期：卫报评AI伦理：焦点在人，而非产品

　　

　　原文期刊：卫报

　　原文标题：The Guardian view on the ethics of AI: it’s about Dr Frankenstein, not his monster

　　本文来自2018年6月12日 《卫报》的 一篇文章。本文主要针对事件“Google将AI应用于军事领域，引发员工强烈抗议”，探讨AI伦理道德问题，指出其本质在于创造、使用AI的人。

　　行文脉络：引出话题（第一段）——提出新事件（第二段）——评述事件（第三段）——表明观点（第四段）。

　　

　　PART 1

　　原文

　　I ①Frankenstein’s monster *haunts discussions of the ethics of artificial intelligence: the fear is that scientists will create something that has purposes and even desires of its own and which will carry them out at the expense of human beings. ②This is a misleading picture because it suggests that there will be a moment at which the monster comes alive: the switch is thrown, the program run, and after that its human creators can do nothing more. ③In real life there will be no such *singularity. ④Construction of AI and its *deployment will be continuous processes, with humans involved and to some extent responsible at every step.

　　II ①This is what makes Google’s declarations of ethical principles for its use of AI so significant, because it seems to be the result of a *revolt among the company’s programmers. ②The senior management at Google saw the supply of AI to the Pentagon as a goldmine, if only it could be kept from public knowledge. ③'Avoid at all costs any mention or implication of AI,' wrote Google Cloud's chief scientist for AI in a *memo. ④'I don't know what would happen if the media starts picking up a theme that Google is secretly building AI weapons or AI technologies to enable weapons for the Defense industry.'

　　III ①That, of course, is exactly what the company had been doing. ②Google had been subcontracting for the Pentagon on Project Maven, which was meant to bring the benefits of AI to war-fighting. ③Then the media found out and more than 3,000 of its own employees protested. ④Only two things frighten the tech giants: one is the stock market; the other is an organised workforce. ⑤The employees’ agitation led to Google announcing six principles of ethical AI, among them that it will not make weapons systems, or technologies whose purpose, or use in *surveillance, violates international principles of human rights. ⑥This still leaves a huge intentional exception: profiting from “*non-lethal” defence technology.

　　IV ①Obviously we cannot expect all companies, still less all programmers, to show this kind of ethical *fine-tuning. ②Other companies will bid for Pentagon business in the US: Google had to beat IBM, Amazon and Microsoft to gain the Maven contract. ③But in all these cases, the companies involved – which means the people who work for them – will be actively involved in maintaining, *tweaking and improving the work. ④This opens an opportunity for consistent ethical pressure and for the attribution of responsibility to human beings and not to *inanimate objects. ⑤Questions about the ethics of artificial intelligence are questions about the ethics of the people who make it and the purposes they put it to. ⑥It is not the monster, but the good Dr Frankenstein we need to worry about most.

　　PART 2

　　词汇短语

　　1.*haunt [h?:nt] v. 常出现于；（长期）困扰

　　2.ethics ['eθ?ks] n. 伦理学；伦理观；道德标准

　　3.artificial intelligence 人工智能（简称AI）

　　4.at the expense of 以……为代价

　　5.misleading [m?s'li:d??] a. 令人误解的

　　6.*singularity [s??gj?'l?r?t?] n. 稀有；异常，奇怪

　　7.*deployment [di:'pl??m?nt] n. 调度，部署

　　8.*revolt [r?'v??lt] n. 反抗；叛乱

　　9.goldmine ['g?uldmain] n. 金矿；大财源；宝库

　　10.implication [?mpl?'ke??(?)n] n. 暗示

　　11.*memo ['mem??] n. 备忘录

　　12.subcontract [s?bk?n'tr?kt] v. 转包，分包

　　13.workforce ['w?:kf?:s] n. 全体员工

　　14.agitation [?d??'te???n] n. 鼓动、煽动

　　15.*surveillance [s?'ve?l?ns] n. 监督；监视

　　16.*lethal ['li:θ?l] a. 致命的，致死的 

　　17.*non-lethal a. 非致死的

　　18.*fine-tuning ['fain'tju:ni?] n. 调整

　　19.bid for 投标，出价

　　20.*tweak [twi:k] v. 稍稍调整（机器、系统等）

　　21.attribution [,?tr?'bju:??n] n. 归属

　　22.*inanimate [?n'?n?m?t] a. 无生命的，无生气的

　　（注:标*号为超纲词）

　　PART 3

　　翻译点评

　　I ①Frankenstein’s monster *haunts discussions of the ethics of artificial intelligence: the fear is that scientists will create something that has purposes and even desires of its own and which will carry them out at the expense of human beings. ②This is a misleading picture because it suggests that there will be a moment at which the monster comes alive: the switch is thrown, the program run, and after that its human creators can do nothing more. ③In real life there will be no such *singularity. ④Construction of AI and its *deployment will be continuous processes, with humans involved and to some extent responsible at every step.

　　翻译：在讨论AI伦理时，经常会提到弗兰肯斯坦(（博士创造出来）的怪物：人们担心科学家会创造出有目的甚至有欲望的东西，不惜以牺牲人类为代价来达到自身目的。这种想法极具误导性，因为它暗示着在某个时刻，怪物会活过来：扔掉开关，运行程序，之后人类创造者再也无能为力。（然而）在现实生活中，是不会出现这种天方夜谭的。AI的开发和使用将是一个持续的过程，人类参与其中，并在一定程度上对每一步骤负责。

　　点评：I段引出全文话题：AI技术的安全问题。①句先从“科学怪物”引入：AI会不会像科学怪人一样失控，威胁人类？②③句回答，②句回答：不会；③句解释原因：AI的开发和使用是一个持续的过程，人类参与整个过程，且对每一步骤负责。

　　II ①This is what makes Google’s declarations of ethical principles for its use of AI so significant, because it seems to be the result of a *revolt among the company’s programmers. ②The senior management at Google saw the supply of AI to the Pentagon as a goldmine, if only it could be kept from public knowledge. ③'Avoid at all costs any mention or implication of AI,' wrote Google Cloud's chief scientist for AI in a *memo. ④'I don't know what would happen if the media starts picking up a theme that Google is secretly building AI weapons or AI technologies to enable weapons for the Defense industry.'

　　翻译：这使得Google宣布AI使用的道德原则显得至关重要，因为这似乎是公司内部程序员反抗的结果。Google管理高层（认为），只要能够瞒得住公众，为五角大楼提供AI将是一座金矿。“要不惜一切代价避免任何提及或暗示AI（的话语），”Google云AI首席科学家在备忘录中写道，“我不知道如果媒体开始挑起话题，大做文章，说Google为国防工业秘密制造AI武器、研发AI技术，将会发生什么”。

　　点评：II段提出事件：Google将AI用于军事领域，引发员工抗议，继而提出AI使用的道德原则。①句开门见山，提出事件并交代缘由；②句解释Google高层将AI用于军事原因；③④句指出Google的担忧，暗含该事件可能造成的后果，呼应①句提出AI的道德原则。

　　III ①That, of course, is exactly what the company had been doing. ②Google had been subcontracting for the Pentagon on Project Maven, which was meant to bring the benefits of AI to war-fighting. ③Then the media found out and more than 3,000 of its own employees protested. ④Only two things frighten the tech giants: one is the stock market; the other is an organised workforce. ⑤The employees’ agitation led to Google announcing six principles of ethical AI, among them that it will not make weapons systems, or technologies whose purpose, or use in *surveillance, violates international principles of human rights. ⑥This still leaves a huge intentional exception: profiting from “*non-lethal” defence technology.

　　翻译：当然，这正是Google一直在做的事情。一直以来，Google都在为五角大楼的“Maven项目”转包合同，意在将AI的成果用于实战。随后，（事情败露，被）媒体发现，3000多名员工集体抗议。（而真正）吓到科技巨头的只有两件事：一是股票市场；二是有组织的劳动力。员工的联合抗议致使Google宣布六项AI道德原则，其中包括绝不制造武器系统，绝不开发用于监视的技术，违反国际人权原则。（不过，）这仍故意遗漏了重要问题，即从“非致死性”防御技术中获益。

　　点评：III段评述事件：Google提出AI使用的道德原则另有原因，且遗漏重要问题。①②句具体解释事件；③句点明事情败露后果，呼应II段；④-⑥句评述Google做法：提出AI使用道德原则；④⑤句指出Google提出该道德原则另有原因；⑥句评述AI使用道德原则：遗漏重大问题。

　　IV ①Obviously we cannot expect all companies, still less all programmers, to show this kind of ethical *fine-tuning. ②Other companies will bid for Pentagon business in the US: Google had to beat IBM, Amazon and Microsoft to gain the Maven contract. ③But in all these cases, the companies involved – which means the people who work for them – will be actively involved in maintaining, *tweaking and improving the work. ④This opens an opportunity for consistent ethical pressure and for the attribution of responsibility to human beings and not to *inanimate objects. ⑤Questions about the ethics of artificial intelligence are questions about the ethics of the people who make it and the purposes they put it to. ⑥It is not the monster, but the good Dr Frankenstein we need to worry about most.

　　翻译：显然，我们不能指望所有公司，更不能指望所有程序员，都表现出这种道德的微调。其他公司（也）将竞购五角大楼在美业务：（因此）Google要想获得Maven项目的合同，就必须先击败IBM、Amazon和Microsoft。而在以上所有案例中，涉及到的公司，也就是为其工作的人，都将积极参与，（负责）维护、调整和改进的工作。这为持续的道德施压以及责任归属，聚焦到人类而不是无生命的物体身上提供了机会。AI的伦理问题其实就是AI制造者的道德问题以及AI的使用目的问题。我们要担心的不是（AI）怪物，而是弗兰肯斯坦博士（制造AI的人）的好坏。

　　点评：表明观点：AI伦理核心焦点在于人。①②首先指出：各大科技公司在争相以AI获利。③④句随后转而指出：但涉入其中的人员应该积极改善，关注道德问题。⑤⑥句最后概括指出：AI道德问题实际上是“那些制造使用它的人们的道德问题”，我们要担心的不是“科学怪人”，而是“好的博士”（制造科学怪人的人）

　　

　　

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