中國網友：“阿爾法狗”敢挑戰麻將麼？

Glib Chinese web users have raised a challenge to the AI program that recently dethroned one of the top human Go players, demanding tongue-in-cheek that the AlphaGo program learn the nation's real pastime - mahjong.
人工智能程序“阿爾法圍棋”打敗世界頂級圍棋選手後，好事的中國網友向其發起挑戰，戲稱：應該讓“阿爾法圍棋”學習一下另一項更具有中國特色的娛樂活動——麻將。

China's reaction toward the historic duel between human and artificial intelligence has been mixed. At first, there were questions on why the human player did not come from China, where the game was invented more than 2,500 years ago.
中國人對這一歷史性的“人機大戰”反響不一。首先，有人提出質疑，爲何“阿爾法圍棋”不是與中國選手對戰，畢竟圍棋起源於2500多年前的中國。

Then, as AlphaGo marked three victories in the five-game match, defiant web users began calling for a challenge in an arena average Chinese are more comfortable in.
其次，“阿爾法圍棋”四比一打敗李世石後，網友們開始向它發起另一個普通中國人都熟悉的遊戲挑戰。

"Can AI beat mahjong masters?" was posted several times in the comment section of stories about the AlphaGo-Lee Sedol match on Chinese microblog Sina Weibo, where they attracted a deluge of comments defending humanity' glory in mahjong.
“人工智能打麻將的話也能贏嗎？”在關於“阿爾法圍棋”與李世石之戰的新浪微博下面，這條評論多次出現，進而激起了網友們試圖通過麻將之戰挽回人類尊嚴的評論熱潮。

Mahjong, China's answer to poker, is usually played by four people. Each turn, players draw tiles from a 144-tile pool, discard or intercept others' to form sets of tiles that can win. Scientists say compared with Go, mahjong has far fewer permutations for AI calculation, but involves a degree of chance and other factors in favor of humans.
麻將類似於撲克，通常四人能湊一桌。每局中，四人從144張牌中取牌，通過出牌或吃牌將自己的牌湊成一定組合後可以贏得牌局。科學家稱，與圍棋的可通過計算實現的排列不同，麻將影響勝負的因素很多，比如運氣等。人類在這方面會更勝一籌。

"Sometimes with a glimpse of the other player's facial expression, I know how he or she is going to play. Can AI do that?" asked one blogger.
“有時候看看其他人的表情，我就知道他/她要怎麼打，人工智能（AI）可以嗎？”一位微博用戶問道。

"Unlike Go, mahjong is not a quiet game that focuses on calculation. It involves a lot of interactions and teamwork between players," another blogger commented.
“麻將不同於圍棋，麻將不僅需要計算，它還包含玩家間的交流和團隊協作，”另一位用戶評論稱。

Some netizens described mahjong as a competition on both IQ and EQ. Computers can undoubtedly blow humans out of water in math, but how about their ability of communication and interpreting emotions?
一些網民稱麻將是智商與情商的雙重較量。毫無疑問，計算機能在計算方面完敗人類，但它們交流和分析他人情緒的能力又如何呢？

Sense and sensibility
理智與情感

Scientists have advised against exaggerating AI's prowess after the Go victory. In the gaming field alone, AI researchers agree that computers, in their current stage, may not be able to beat humans in games that feature a high level of irrationality, including understanding of feelings and creativity.
“阿爾法圍棋”獲勝後，科學家們認爲沒必要過分誇大人工智能的水平。相關研究人員表示，目前的計算機在非常規遊戲上可能還是無法擊敗人類，因爲這些遊戲需要理解力和創造力。

"AlphaGo's learning and calculation prowess is based on formulas and data, but mahjong involves luck and emotions. To my knowledge, no AI is powerful enough to manage them," said Ren Yi, an expert on computer game AI and CEO of a Nanjing-based tech company.
電子遊戲人工智能專家、南京一家科技公司的CEO任毅稱：“‘阿爾法圍棋’的學習和計算技術都是基於公式和數據，但麻將更多地體現了運氣和情緒因素。據我所知，還沒有人工智能能夠做到這點。”

Feng Jianfeng, chief scientist for a brain science and AI project launched by the city of Shanghai, also refused to bet on AI's definitive victory over human mahjong masters, as the game involves more human intelligence than calculation.
上海腦科學與人工智能重大項目首席科學家馮建峯，也認爲人工智能與在麻將上不一定能獲勝，因爲相對於計算能力，麻將更需要人類的智慧。

"AlphaGo's structure and arithmetic only emulates some primary functions of human brains, not including emotions, decision making, attention and creativity," Feng said. "It has just done something computers are very good at. It is a landmark and will greatly boost AI development, but AI still has a long way to go."
“‘阿爾法圍棋’依賴的結構和算法只是模擬了人腦的一些初級功能，但是如情感、決策、注意力、創造性等它都沒有涉及。”馮說。“它只是做了計算機擅長的。這次人機大戰是個里程碑，它將大大促進人工智能的發展，但人工智能還有很長一段路要走。”

Feng's team is studying Alzheimer's disease with the help of AI, but defying public expectations of AI supplementing patients' declining brain abilities, Feng said what computers could do so far was helping make more accurate diagnoses by navigating through big data.
馮建峯的團隊正在利用人工智能幫助研究阿爾茲海默症（俗稱“癡呆症”），但他表示，要人工智能填補病人逐漸喪失的腦功能是不可能的，目前計算機能做到的，只是通過大數據更精確地診斷病情。

The disease affects tens of millions of elderly people worldwide and has no effective cure, though medical experts say playing games that activate brains could help with the prevention.
世界範圍內有數以千萬計的老人正在遭受阿爾茲海默症的困擾，目前仍然沒有有效的治療辦法，雖然有醫學專家稱，通過可以刺激大腦的遊戲可能預防這種疾病。

So for those worrying about the disease, the Chinese advice would be, instead of pinning hopes on AI, to sit with friends and enjoy a game of mahjong.
所以中國人給你的建議就是：如果擔心自己患阿爾茲海默症，別抱希望於人工智能了，快邀上朋友們一起愉快的打麻將吧。