《经济学人》双语：OpenAI宫斗剧蕴含哪些人类教训?

原文标题：
OpenChaos
The fallout from the weirdness at OpenAI
Sam Altman is set to return, but the episode holds some disturbing lessons
混沌
OpenAI 宫斗余波
山姆·奥特曼即将回归，但这一插曲蕴含着一些令人不安的教训

[Paragraph 1]
FIVE VERY weird days passed before it seemed that Sam Altman would stay at OpenAI after all.
非常诡异的5天过去了，山姆·奥特曼似乎最终还是会留在 OpenAI公司。

On November 17th the board of the maker of ChatGPT suddenly booted out its chief executive.
11 月 17 日，ChatGPT 母公司董事会突然解雇了首席执行官。

On the 19th it looked as if Mr Altman would move to Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor.
19 日，奥特曼似乎要去OpenAI 最大的投资方微软工作。

But employees at the startup rose up in revolt, with almost all of them, including one of the board’s original conspirators, threatening to leave were Mr Altman not reinstated.
但这家初创公司的员工奋起反抗，几乎所有人（包括董事会最初的同谋之一）都威胁说，如果奥特曼不复职，他们就离职。

Between frantic meetings, the top brass tweeted heart emojis and fond messages to each other. By the 21st, things had come full circle .
在紧张的会议间隙，高管们在推特上互发心形表情包和亲切的问候信息。到了21日，事情又回到了原点。

[Paragraph 2]
All this seems stranger still considering that these shenanigans were taking place at the world’s hottest startup, which had been expected to reach a valuation of nearly $90bn.
考虑到这些诡异事件发生在全球最炙手可热的初创公司里，而且该公司的估值预计将达到近 900 亿美元，所有这一切都显得更加诡异。

In part, the weirdness is a sign of just how quickly the relatively young technology of generative artificial intelligence has been catapulted to glory.
在某种程度上，这种诡异事件表明，相对年轻的生成式人工智能技术已经迅速走向辉煌。

But it also holds deeper and more disturbing lessons.
但这也蕴含着更深层次和更令人不安的教训。

[Paragraph 3]
One is the sheer power of AI talent.
这一事件表明AI人才具有绝对力量。

As the employees threatened to quit, the message “OpenAI is nothing without its people” rang out on social media.
当员工威胁要离职时，“没有人才，OpenAI 就什么都不是”的信息在社交媒体上广为流传。

Ever since ChatGPT’S launch a year ago, demand for AI brains has been white-hot.
自一年前ChatGPT上线以来，对AI人才的需求就一直处于白热化状态。

As chaos reigned, both Microsoft and other tech firms stood ready to welcome disgruntled staff with open arms.
在一片混乱之际，微软和其他科技公司都准备张开双臂迎接因不满而离职的员工。

That gave both Mr Altman and OpenAI’s programmers huge bargaining power and fatally undermined the board’s attempts to exert control.
这给了奥特曼和 OpenAI 的程序员们巨大的议价能力，并给了试图抢夺控制权的董事会致命的一击。

[Paragraph 4]
The episode also shines a light on the unusual structure of OpenAI.
这一事件也揭示了OpenAI的非同寻常的公司结构。

It was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research lab aimed at safely developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), which can equal or surpass humans in all types of thinking.
OpenAI公司成立于 2015 年，是一家非营利性研究实验室，旨在安全开发人工通用智能 (AGI)，这种人工智能可以在各种思维方面与人类匹敌甚至超过人类。

But it soon became clear that this would require vast amounts of expensive processing power, if it were possible at all.
但很快人们就发现，如果要实现这一目标，需要大量昂贵的算力。

To pay for it, a profit-making subsidiary was set up to sell AI tools, such as ChatGPT. And Microsoft invested $13bn in return for a 49% stake.
为了支付这笔费用，OpenAI成立了一家盈利子公司来销售AI 工具，例如 ChatGPT。微软投资了 130 亿美元，获得了 49% 的股份。

[Paragraph 5]
On paper, the power remained with the non-profit’s board, whose aim is to ensure that AGI benefits everyone, and whose responsibility is accordingly not to shareholders but to “humanity”.
从理论上讲，权力仍掌握在非营利性的董事会手中，董事会的目标是确保 AGI 能造福所有人，因此董事会不是对股东负责而是对 "全人类 "负责。

That illusion was shattered as the employees demanded Mr Altman’s return, and as the prospect loomed of a rival firm housed within profit-maximising Microsoft.
然而，当员工们要求奥特曼回归时，这种幻想被破灭了，同时，另一个利益最大化的微软公司内部的竞争对手公司即将涌现。

[Paragraph 6]
The chief lesson is the folly of solely relying on corporate structures to police technology.
主要的教训是，仅依靠公司结构来管理技术是行不通的。

As the potential of generative AI became clear, the contradictions in OpenAI’s structure were exposed.
随着生成式人工智能的潜力逐渐显现，OpenAI公司结构中的矛盾也暴露无遗。

A single outfit cannot strike the best balance between advancing AI, attracting talent and investment, assessing AI’s threats and keeping humanity safe.
一个组织无法在推进人工智能、吸引人才和投资、评估人工智能威胁和保障人类安全之间取得最佳平衡。

Conflicts of interest in Silicon Valley are hardly rare. Even if the people at OpenAI were as brilliant as they think they are, the task would be beyond them.
硅谷的利益冲突并不罕见。即使 OpenAI 的员工真如他们自认为的那样才华横溢，他们也无法完成这项任务。

[Paragraph 7]
Much about the board’s motives in sacking Mr Altman remains unknown.
董事会解雇奥特曼的动机仍然未知。

Even if the directors did genuinely have humanity’s interest at heart, they risked seeing investors and employees flock to another firm that would charge ahead with the technology regardless.
即使这些董事们确实是出于人类利益的考虑，他们也冒着投资者和员工转投到另一家公司的风险，这些公司会不顾一切地推进技术。

Nor is it entirely clear what qualifies a handful of private citizens to represent the interests of Earth’s remaining 7.9bn inhabitants.
我们也不完全清楚，少数几个普通公民有什么资格代表地球上其余 79 亿人口的利益。

As part of Mr Altman’s return, a new board is being appointed. It will include Larry Summers, a prominent economist; an executive from Microsoft will probably join him, as may Mr Altman.
奥特曼回归后，新的董事会即将任命。董事会成员将可能包括著名经济学家拉里·萨默斯；微软的一名高管；奥特曼本人。

[Paragraph 8]
Board senseless
董事会毫无意义

Yet personnel changes are not enough: the firm’s structure should also be overhauled.
然而，仅有人事变动是不够的：公司的结构也应进行彻底改革。

Fortunately, in America there is a body that has a much more convincing claim to represent the common interest: the government.
幸运的是，美国有一个更有公信力的机构可以代表共同利益，那就是政府。

By drafting regulation, it can set the boundaries within which companies like OpenAI must operate.
通过起草法规，政府可以为 OpenAI 这样的公司设定运营边界。

And, as a flurry of activity in the past month shows, politicians are watching AI. That is just as well.
而且，上个月的一系列活动表明，政客们正在关注人工智能。这样也好。

The technology is too important to be left to the whims of corporate plotters.
这项技术太重要了，不能任凭企业策划者为所欲为。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量664左右）
原文出自：2023年11月25日《The Economist》Leaders版

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene

本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
人工通用智能（Artificial General Intelligence）也称为通用人工智能（General Artificial Intelligence）或超级人工智能（Super Artificial Intelligence），它是一种可以执行复杂任务的人工智能，能够完全模仿人类智能的行为，能够执行任何人类智能活动的计算机系统。AG可以被认为是人工智能的更高层次，它可以实现自我学习、自我改进、自我调整，进而解决任何问题而不需要人为干预。通用人工智能的研究目标是寻求统一的理论框架来解释各种智能现象，并研发具有高效的学习和泛化能力、能够根据所处的复杂动态环境自主产生并完成任务的通用人工智能体，使其具备自主的感知、认知、决策、学习、执行和社会协作等能力，且符合人类情感、伦理与道德观念。

【重点句子】（3个）
One is the sheer power of AI talent.
这一事件表明AI人才具有绝对力量。

A single outfit cannot strike the best balance between advancing AI, attracting talent and investment, assessing AI’s threats and keeping humanity safe.
一个组织无法在推进人工智能、吸引人才和投资、评估人工智能威胁和保障人类安全之间取得最佳平衡。

Yet personnel changes are not enough: the firm’s structure should also be overhauled.
然而，仅有人事变动是不够的：公司的结构也应进行彻底改革。