人工智能：别样的伴侣引热议

　　奥斯卡获奖影片《她》讲述了发生在未来的一段人机之恋。该片再次引发人们对人工智能的热议。有关学者也表示，不久的将来，片中情节便会成为现实。

　　Her, a movie written and directed by US director Spike Jonze, won the Oscar for Best Original screenplay. It explores the romantic relationship between a man and his computer’s operating system.

　　由美国导演斯派克•琼斯自编自导的电影《她》斩获了本届奥斯卡最佳原创剧本奖。该片讲述了一个男人与电脑操作系统间的浪漫爱情故事。

　　The story takes place in the near future where virtual assistants are a common aspect of daily life. One day, Theodore, the protagonist, purchases a new-generation operating system. The system, which calls itself Samantha, is on Theodore’s computer and his smartphone. He carries the latter around in his shirt pocket so that Smanthat’s camera-eye can peek out at the world.

　　故事发生在不久的将来，人工智能助手已然成为人们日常生活中的一部分。一天，该片男主角托姆布雷购买了新一代操作系统——萨曼莎，并将其安装在电脑和智能手机上。他将智能手机放在衬衫口袋中随身携带，这样萨曼莎就可以透过摄像头洞察到外面的世界。

　　Over time, Samantha learns and grows, discovering her own needs and desires and forming her own personality. Before long, Theodore is introducing her to others as his girlfriend.

　　随着时间的推移，萨曼莎在不断学习和成长中逐渐产生了需求和欲望，并形成了自己的个性。不久以后，托姆布雷便将她以“女友”的身份介绍给别人。

　　The movie has captured people’s imagination. Can consciousness exist without a blood-and-flesh physical entity? Will Samantha-like artificial intelligence (AI) with human emotions be a reality some day?

　　电影的播出引发人们无尽遐想：离开血肉之躯的意识能够存活吗?将来，像萨曼莎这样拥有人类情感的人工智能助手真的能够成为现实么?

　　Ray Kurzweil, the world’s leading AI visionary and Google’s director of engineering, predicts we could have Samantha-like girlfriends or boyfriends by 2029.

　　全球人工智能领域领军人、谷歌工程总监雷•库兹韦尔曾预测，到2029年我们就能拥有像萨曼莎这样的男/女朋友。

　　Kurzweil popularized the idea of “the Singularity” — the point in the future when humans merge with machines. When that time comes, machines will be so intelligent that they will make technology advance in a way we humans won’t be able to understand unless we connect our brains to machines.

　　库兹韦尔普及了“奇点”的理念——未来人类将进入技术奇点，届时人类将与机器合二为一。当技术奇点时代来临，人工智能技术发展迅猛，人类必须将大脑与机器相连才能理解它们。

　　Distant future?

　　未来遥远吗?

　　In a post on his website, Kurzweil discussed the technological implications of Her. He said that Samantha would happen in 2029, “when the leap to human-level AI would be reasonably believable”.

　　库兹韦尔在个人网站上探讨了电影《她》所蕴含的科技元素。他说，2029年，像萨曼莎这样的故事情节很可能发生，“那时，这种达到人类水平的人工智能将不再是天方夜谭”。

　　Mars Cyrillo, executive director at technology company CI&T, echoes Kurzweil’s optimism in an article he wrote for VentureBeat.com:

　　库兹韦尔曾在知名科技博客网站VentureBeat.com上发表文章，对未来人工智能发展表示看好。而CI&T科技公司执行董事马尔斯•西里络(音译)也十分赞同他的观点。他表示：

　　“If we assume that everything that makes us human comes from our brains and our interactions with other brains and with our environment, there’s no reason to believe that, in the future, computers we build to simulate the brain wouldn’t exhibit human-like behavior.”

　　“如果我们假设人之所以为人，完全依仗于人类的大脑，以及大脑与其他大脑和环境之间的交流，那么，我们就有理由相信，我们模拟人脑制造出来的电脑将来也能够做出类似的人类行为。”

　　Cyrillo also shares Kurzweil’s belief that by 2045 we’ll have molecule-sized computers inside our bodies and brains, tasked with protecting our health and enhancing our cognitive powers. Our brains could connect to the cloud in order to get their abilities extended.

　　同库兹韦尔一样，西里络也相信到2045年，我们会制造出可安装在人体和大脑内的分子级电脑，达到呵护健康和提高认知能力的目的。我们的大脑可以连接到“云”，从而拓展大脑的能力。

　　You might think it’s impossible for that to happen in just a couple of decades, but Cyrillo says we shouldn’t think linearly because our technology evolves exponentially.

　　你或许会想，在短短几十年内这样的事情根本不可能发生，但是西里络表示，我们不能线性思考，因为科技正在突飞猛进。

　　“In 30 years, Apple managed to build a phone whose computational capacity is almost 200 million times more powerful than the first Macintosh,” Cyrillo wrote. “Projecting 30 years from now, the idea that we’ll have a molecule-sized computer, some billion times more powerful than the iPhone of today, isn’t as crazy as you may think.”

　　“短短30年的时间，苹果公司研制出计算能力比第一代苹果机几乎快两亿倍的一款手机，”西里络写道，“这样说来，预计从现在开始的30年内，研制出比iPhone强大数十亿倍的分子级电脑，也并不是什么疯狂的想法。”

　　With the development of quantum computers and serious advances in neuroscience that are already happening, Cyrillo says he believes we’ll have examples of strong AI in less than 30 years, or at least AI agents that task themselves with learning all about our universe and its mysteries.

　　随着量子计算机的发展和神经系统学的突飞猛进，西里络相信用不了30年，我们就能够研制出功能强大的人工智能样本;或至少能够研制出用来探索宇宙奥秘的人工智能。