今天印度(是的，你沒讀錯)發行的經濟時報(The Economic Times)上，出現了一個聳動的新聞：
Facebook shuts AI program after bots create own language
臉書所使用的chatbot(電腦模擬人工語音)的人工智慧程式代理人 (AI agents) ，開始拒絕人類指令不使用英文溝通，反而開始使用自己創造出的語言。Facebook決定關機這程式運作。
諷刺的是，事情是在馬克祖克伯與特斯拉的Elon Musk兩人，針鋒相對就人工智慧對人類是貢獻還是威脅的幾天之後所發生。
不論這新聞是否讓人開始真正對AI起疑，且讓我們來學學文中的片語。
新聞英文片語解釋：
1. Go rouge (文中gone rouge為 have gone rouge的簡寫)。在英文中除了有異常的；行為失常的；常製造麻煩的意思外、the rouge state 可指像北韓等等的流氓國家、或指離群而危險的份子。
2. go out of hand 失控；無法控制的局面。
以下為新聞原文：
Facebook shuts AI program after bots create own language
Bots gone rogue
Days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that artificial intelligence (AI) was the biggest risk, Facebook has shut down one of its AI systems after chatbots started speaking in their own language defying the codes provided.
Gone out of hand
According to a report in Tech Times on July 30, the social media giant had to pull the plug on the AI system that its researchers were working on “because things got out of hand".
“The AI did not start shutting down computers worldwide or something of the sort, but it stopped using English and started using a language that it created," the report noted.
Making of a new language
Initially the AI agents used English to converse with each other but they later created a new language that only AI systems could understand, thus, defying their purpose.
This led Facebook researchers to shut down the AI systems and then force them to speak to each other only in English.
Rising of chatbots
In June, researchers from the Facebook AI Research Lab (FAIR) found that while they were busy trying to improve chatbots, the “dialogue agents" were creating their own language.
Soon, the bots began to deviate from the scripted norms and started communicating in an entirely new language which they created without human input, media reports said.
Using machine learning algorithms, the “dialogue agents" were left to converse freely in an attempt to strengthen their conversational skills.
Getting crafty
The researchers also found these bots to be “incredibly crafty negotiators".
“After learning to negotiate, the bots relied on machine learning and advanced strategies in an attempt to improve the outcome of these negotiations," the report said.
“Over time, the bots became quite skilled at it and even began feigning interest in one item in order to ‘sacrifice’ it at a later stage in the negotiation as a faux compromise," it added.
Will AI overtake human intelligence
Although this appears to be a huge leap for AI, several experts including Professor Stephen Hawking have raised fears that humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, could be superseded by AI.
Others like Tesla’s Elon Musk, philanthropist Bill Gates and ex-Apple founder Steve Wozniak have also expressed their concerns about where the AI technology was heading.
Debate over AI
Interestingly, this incident took place just days after a verbal spat between Facebook CEO and Musk who exchanged harsh words over a debate on the future of AI.
“I’ve talked to Mark about this (AI). His understanding of the subject is limited," Musk tweeted last week.
The tweet came after Zuckerberg, during a Facebook livestream earlier this month, castigated Musk for arguing that care and regulation was needed to safeguard the future if AI becomes mainstream.
PEI 太平洋英語 