FT社評 人工智能需要理性監管
The disruptive impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, law enforcement or healthcare could be enormous.
人工智能可能給職業、執法或醫療帶來巨大的顛覆性影響。
It raises concerns among politicians, regulators and society that the technology industry needs to address intelligently and flexibly.
這已經引發了政界人士、監管者及社會的擔憂，科技行業需要靈活巧妙地解決這些擔憂。
Too often, however, the industry sees these intrusions as a threat to be brushed aside.
然而，更常見的情況是，科技行業將這些干預視爲威脅而置之不理。
It should not.
這是不應該的。
US technology groups, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM, have set up a non-profit body to work out how society could harness intelligent machines to its benefit, while keeping the risks in check.
谷歌(Google)、Facebook、微軟(Microsoft)、亞馬遜(Amazon)及IBM五大美國科技集團成立了一家非盈利機構，以解決社會如何利用智能機器的好處、同時又保持風險可控的問題。
Grandly titled as the Partnership on artificial intelligence to benefit people and society, it promises to conduct research into questions that surround artificial intelligence, such as ethics, and develop ways to make the technology more understandable.
被冠以人工智能造福人類和社會合作組織(Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society)之名，該機構承諾對圍繞人工智能的問題進行研究，例如道德倫理以及尋找方法讓技術更易於被理解。
One does not have to be a believer in some dystopian future to recognise the benefits of such research.
就算你不是反烏托邦主義者也會認識到此類研究的好處。
The landscape is dotted with signs of what happens when clever algorithms are left to their own devices, from the self-driving Tesla car that crashed to Microsoft’s out-of-control chatbot on Twitter.
我們已經多次看到當人們讓聰明的算法自己操控設備時會發生什麼——從特斯拉(Tesla)自動駕駛汽車撞毀，到微軟聊天機器人在Twitter上失控。
A recent study found that 60 per cent of those surveyed think that intelligent machines would lead to fewer jobs within a decade.
最近的一項研究發現，60%的受訪者認爲，智能機器將在10年內導致工作崗位減少。
The industry is fast overcoming the technical obstacles around artificial intelligence.
科技業正在迅速克服人工智能領域的技術障礙。
Technology experts in a report argued that our lives will soon be shaped by machine-learning algorithms.
技術專家們在一份報告中稱，不久以後，我們的生活將被機器學習算法所改變。
Rather than superhuman robots, we should expect more precise health diagnostics and predictive regulating.
我們應該期待的是更精準的醫療診斷和預測性監管，而非超人機器人。
These changes can have profound positive impacts, experts say, but can also lead to disruptions in how human labour is augmented or replaced.
專家表示，這些變化可能將帶來深遠、積極的影響，但也可能導致人類勞動力獲得補充或被取代的方式出現混亂。
The pace of new developments and their direction therefore highlight the urgency to respond to public concerns.
因此，人工智能新進展的速度和方向凸顯了迴應公衆擔憂的緊迫性。
What is less clear is that the right entity to regulate the direction of development is an industry body.
不太確定的一點是，一個行業組織是否是監管人工智能發展方向的合適實體。
True, tech companies have a deep understanding of the scope of artificial intelligence and its pace.
沒錯，科技公司對人工智能的發展空間及速度有更深入的理解。
But it would be naive to think that those with a direct stake in the technology can be immune from commercial interests or from the gung-ho enthusiasm of their research teams.
但認爲那些與這一技術有直接利害關係的公司能夠不受商業利益或研究團隊的狂熱影響的想法也是天真的。
The tech industry likes to regard itself as the future, with governments and rival industries mired in the past.
科技業喜歡把自身視作未來，而政府和對手行業代表着守舊。
They are, with justification, worried that misinformed regulation would slow down investment in start-ups that focus on artificial intelligence.
他們有理由擔心，錯誤的監管將阻礙對人工智能初創企業的投資。
But turning their back on policymakers is not an option.
但對政策制定者不理不睬並不是一種選擇。
Clearly, public opinion demands external oversight of new developments.
顯然，公衆輿論要求對這些新進展進行外部監督。
In its absence, an industry-led regulator would only fuel a perception that tech titans are devising the rules that would suit their own interests.
在缺乏外部監督的情況下，行業牽頭的監管機構只會讓人們更加相信，科技巨頭們正在制定符合自身利益的規則。
There are examples of groups that have successfully bridged the divide between those in technology and government.
已經有一些組織成功彌合了科技公司與政府之間分歧的例子。
The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for instance has dealt with the ethical dilemmas raised by an emerging technology.
例如，英國的人類生育和胚胎學管理局(Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority)負責處理相關新興技術帶來的道德困境。
What artificial intelligence needs is a similar but independent public-private partnership that could not only address concerns but also allow policymakers to start preparing for the future.
人工智能領域需要的是一個類似但獨立的公私合作組織，這樣不僅可以化解擔憂，還可以讓政策制定者開始爲未來做好準備。
Artificial intelligence opens up immense possibilities.
人工智能開啓了無限的可能性。
If we want to share the benefits the technology brings to society, it is too important for politicians to hold it back.
如果我們要分享這項技術給社會帶來的好處，由政治家來對它加以控制非常重要。
The tech industry has a critical role to play but, for it to be effective, it should work with government rather than against it.
科技業可以發揮關鍵作用，但要收到實效，行業應該與政府合作，而非對抗。
