2023年经济学人 人工智能彻底改变科学(1)

（单词翻译）

    Debate about artificial intelligence (AI) tends to focus on its potential dangers: algorithmic bias¹ and discrimination, the mass destruction of jobs and even, some say, the extinction² of humanity.

    关于人工智能(AI)的争论往往集中在它的潜在危险上:算法偏见和歧视，就业机会的大规模破坏，甚至有人说，人类的灭绝。

    As some observers fret³ about these dystopian scenarios⁴, however, others are focusing on the potential rewards.

    然而，当一些观察人士对这些反乌托邦的设想感到担忧时，另一些人则专注于潜在的回报。

    AI could, they claim, help humanity solve some of its biggest and thorniest⁵ problems.

    他们声称，人工智能可以帮助人类解决一些最大、最棘手的问题。

    And, they say, AI will do this in a very specific way: by radically⁶ accelerating the pace of scientific discovery, especially in areas such as medicine, climate science and green technology.

    而且，他们说，人工智能将以一种非常具体的方式做到这一点:从根本上加快科学发现的步伐，特别是在医学、气候科学和绿色技术等领域。

    Luminaries⁷ in the field such as Demis Hassabis and Yann LeCun believe that AI can turbocharge scientific progress and lead to a golden age of discovery.

    杰米斯·哈萨比斯和扬·勒昆等领域杰出人士认为，人工智能可以加速科学进步，引领一个科学发现的黄金时代。

    Could they be right?

    他们是对的吗?

    Such claims are worth examining, and may provide a useful counterbalance to fears about large-scale unemployment and killer⁸ robots.

    这样的说法值得研究，或许可以有效地抵消对大规模失业和机器杀手的担忧。

    Many previous technologies have, of course, been falsely hailed as panaceas⁹.

    当然，以前的许多技术都被错误地誉为灵丹妙药。

    The electric telegraph was lauded¹⁰ in the 1850s as a herald¹¹ of world peace, as were aircraft in the 1900s;19世纪50年代，电报被誉为世界和平的先驱，20世纪初，飞机也是如此;pundits in the 1990s said the internet would reduce inequality and eradicate¹² nationalism.

    上世纪90年代的权威人士说，互联网将减少不平等，根除民族主义。

    But the mechanism¹³ by which AI will supposedly solve the world’s problems has a stronger historical basis,但人工智能解决世界问题的机制有更强大的历史基础，because there have been several periods in history when new approaches and new tools did indeed help bring about bursts of world-changing scientific discovery and innovation.

    因为在历史上有几个时期，新方法和新工具确实有助于带来改变世界的科学发现和创新。

    In the 17th century microscopes and telescopes opened up new vistas¹⁴ of discovery and encouraged researchers to favour their own observations over the received wisdom of antiquity¹⁵, while the introduction of scientific journals gave them new ways to share and publicise their findings.

    在17世纪，显微镜和望远镜开辟了发现的新视野，鼓励研究人员更倾向于相信自己的观察，而不是前人公认的智慧，而科学期刊的引入为他们提供了分享和公布发现的新途径。

    The result was rapid progress in astronomy, physics and other fields, and new inventions from the pendulum¹⁶ clock to the steam engine—the prime mover of the Industrial Revolution.

    其结果是天文学、物理学和其他领域的迅速发展，以及从摆钟到蒸汽机——工业革命的原动力——的新发明。