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VOA科学技术2023--2023: A Big Year for Artificial Intelligence

时间:2024-01-05 05:09:45

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2023: A Big Year for Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) became a popular subject in 2023. Still, the technology has a long way to go to meet people's futuristic expectations of human-like machines.

ChatGPT was central to this year's attention on AI. The chatbot showed the world recent developments in computer science, although not everyone understood quite how it works or what to do with it.

AI scientist Fei-Fei Li suggested that 2023 would be remembered for the great changes in technology as well as the public awakening1. It was a year for people to figure out "what this is, how to use it, what's the impact — all the good, the bad and the ugly," she added.

Concerns over AI

The first AI concerns of 2023 began soon after New Year's Day. That is when classrooms reopened and schools from Seattle to Paris started blocking ChatGPT. Students were already asking the chatbot — released in late 2022 — to write papers and answer take-home tests.

AI large language models behind technology such as ChatGPT work by predicting the next word in a sentence. The models make such predictions after having "learned" the structure of a huge number of human-written works. The large language models often get facts wrong. But the results appeared so natural that it created interest in the next AI developments and possible uses for trickery and deception2.

Worries grew as this new group of generative AI tools produced not just words but also images, music and voices. They seemed to threaten the jobs of anyone who writes, draws, and creates music and computer languages. Concerns about AI tools fueled strikes by Hollywood writers and actors and legal disputes from artists to writers.

Some of the most respected AI scientists warned that the technology's progress was marching toward outsmarting humans and possibly threatening their existence. Yet other scientists called the warnings overblown and brought attention to more immediate3 risks.

By spring, AI-created videos known as deepfakes had appeared in U.S. election campaigns. Deepfakes are videos that contain realistic images but with digital changes to people's actions and speech. One deepfake falsely showed Donald Trump4 embracing the nation's former top infectious disease expert. The technology made it increasingly difficult to tell the difference between real and fake videos of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

By the end of the year, the AI crisis affected5 ChatGPT's maker6, OpenAI. The San Francisco-based company led by chief executive Sam Altman was nearly destroyed by disagreements over its mission.

AI debates also led to new laws from the European Union and consideration from others, including the United States Congress.

Too much excitement?

AI products released in 2023 have brought technology achievements not possible in earlier times. But the market research company Gartner says they arrive with "inflated7 expectations" and "massive claims" about its abilities.

Gartner analyst8 Dave Micko said leading AI developers are pushing the latest technology with their current line of products, including search engines and workplace productivity software.

He said, "As much as Google and Microsoft and Amazon and Apple would love us to adopt the way that they think about their technology and that they deliver that technology, I think adoption9 actually comes from the bottom up."

It is easy to forget that this is not the first appearance of AI in business. The technology has been used to help guide self-driving cars, compare objects and individual faces, and recognize speech in software like Siri and Alexa.

In 2011, Tom Gruber launched Siri, which was bought and used by Apple in the iPhone. At that time, it was the only major use of AI that people had ever experienced.

But Gruber believes what's happening now is the "biggest wave ever" in AI, launching new possibilities as well as dangers.

The dangers could come fast in 2024. Major national elections in the U.S., India and elsewhere could get flooded with AI-created deepfakes.

In the longer term, AI technology's rapidly improving language, visual sensing and step-by-step planning abilities could create a kind of digital assistant — but only if given access to the "inner loop of our digital life stream," Gruber said.

"They can manage your attention as in, ‘You should watch this video. You should read this book. You should respond to this person's communication,'" Gruber said. He added, "That is what a real executive assistant does. And we could have that, but with a really big risk of personal information and privacy."

Words in This Story

chatbot -- n. a computer program designed to converse10 with people

impact -- n. a powerful or major influence or effect

deception -- n. the act of making someone believe something that is not true

embrace -- v. to hold someone in your arms as a way of expressing love or friendship

manage -- v. to take care of and make decisions about something

respond - v. to say or write something as an answer to a question or request


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1 awakening 9ytzdV     
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的
参考例句:
  • the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
  • People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。
2 deception vnWzO     
n.欺骗,欺诈;骗局,诡计
参考例句:
  • He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
  • He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。
3 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
4 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
5 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
6 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
7 inflated Mqwz2K     
adj.(价格)飞涨的;(通货)膨胀的;言过其实的;充了气的v.使充气(于轮胎、气球等)( inflate的过去式和过去分词 );(使)膨胀;(使)通货膨胀;物价上涨
参考例句:
  • He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
  • They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 analyst gw7zn     
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
参考例句:
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
9 adoption UK7yu     
n.采用,采纳,通过;收养
参考例句:
  • An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
  • The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。
10 converse 7ZwyI     
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反
参考例句:
  • He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
  • I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

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