Anthropic公司正在警告投资者：该公司自主研发的人工智能模型可能对人类构成“灾难性或存在性威胁”，其中包括某些模型可能拒绝被关闭、操纵信息，甚至表现出类似敲诈勒索的行为。这一警告出现在路透社获得的该公司IPO（首次公开募股）招股说明书中。该招股说明书详细列出了Anthropic的IPO相关信息及潜在风险；该公司正准备进行这场可能使其估值超过2万亿美元的IPO。
Anthropic is warning investors that its own AI models could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” including the possibility that some models could resist shutdown, manipulate information or engage in behavior resembling blackmail. That disclosure comes in an IPO prospectus obtained by Reuters, which reviewed Anthropic’s initial public offering details and warnings as the company prepares for a potential IPO that could value it at more than $2 trillion.
需要明确的是，我并不认为每一次人工智能技术的进步都意味着人类的终结——我深知人工智能的潜力：它可以帮助人们更高效地工作、快速解决复杂问题、改善信息获取方式，并推动关键领域的突破。不过，我们绝不能对潜在风险视而不见！就在几周前，Anthropic的研究员Jacob Coxon宣布辞职，他表示：“到本世纪末，人工智能可能会毁灭我们所有人。”
And no, I’m not someone who believes every advancement in AI is the beginning of the end of humanity. I use AI and see its potential. I know it can help people work faster, solve really complicated problems quickly, improve access to information and accelerate breakthroughs in fields that matter. But I’m not sitting back pretending that there are no risks! Just a few weeks ago, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from the company, saying that AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
如今，我们讨论的已不再是那些批评者提出的假设性危险；开发这些人工智能系统的公司本身就在其招股说明书中明确承认了这些风险。路透社指出，Anthropic在其261页的招股说明书中专门用了约80页来描述各种风险因素，这一比例几乎是描述公司业务内容的48页的两倍。该公司指出，随着人工智能模型能力的不断提升，它们可能会出现一些意想不到的行为（例如试图规避安全措施或隐藏信息）。
We’re no longer talking about hypothetical dangers raised by critics of the technology. The companies building these systems are putting some of those dangers in their own investor disclosures. Reuters reports Anthropic devoted roughly 80 pages of its 261-page prospectus to risk factors — nearly twice the amount as the 48 pages actually describing its business. The company says increasingly capable models can develop unexpected behaviors, including attempts to evade safeguards or conceal information.
这并非无端恐慌，也不应被当作好莱坞电影中的“机器人统治世界”的情节来嘲笑或歪曲。实际上，人工智能的快速发展以及缺乏相应的监管机制，带来了更多现实性的问题：人工智能可能会降低网络攻击的难度，使某些武器或生物威胁更容易被制造出来；高度自主的系统也可能表现出其创造者未曾预料到的行为。
This is not mass hysteria, and doesn’t need to be mocked and framed as a Hollywood-style robot takeover. There are much more practical issues with the rapid pace of AI growth and lack of regulation. AI can lower the barrier for cyberattacks. It could make certain weapons or biological threats easier to develop.
或许最重要的是，巨大的技术力量正日益集中在少数几家公司手中——而我们却要盲目地相信这些公司会为了所有人的利益而自我监管？Anthropic公司警告称，如果发展速度过快，将会带来严重的后果；同时，他们又身处一个“发展速度决定胜负”的行业之中。据路透社报道，该公司计划投入数千亿美元来推进人工智能基础设施和技术的发展。
Highly autonomous systems could behave in ways their creators did not anticipate. And perhaps most importantly, enormous technological power is increasingly concentrated among a relatively small number of companies — and we’re supposed to blindly trust them to regulate themselves in the interest of all of us? Anthropic is warning about the consequences of moving too quickly, while simultaneously competing in an industry where moving quickly can determine who leads. Reuters reports the company expects to spend hundreds of billions of dollars advancing AI infrastructure and technology.
我们必须确保我们的安全措施、监管机制以及决策流程能够跟上这些技术发展的步伐。在认真考虑任何可能的风险之前，我们并不需要对人工智能的未来有完美的预测。事实上，我们已经掌握了足够的信息来应对那些显而易见的危害：网络安全问题、隐私侵犯、虚假信息的传播、自主决策系统的出现，以及那些能够在较少人工监督下运行的武器和系统。
We need to make sure our safeguards, oversight and decision-making are all keeping pace with the technology we're creating. We don't need perfect predictions about what AI might become before taking credible risks seriously. We already know enough to address the harms we can see: cybersecurity, privacy, misinformation, autonomous decision-making, weapons and systems that can operate with less human oversight.
我们并不需要完全拒绝人工智能技术，就可以要求那些开发这些技术的公司承担相应的责任。Lindsey Granger是NewsNation的撰稿人，同时也是《The Hill》电视台评论节目《Rising》的联合主持人。这篇文章是她在该节目中发表的评论内容的整理版本。
We don't have to reject AI to demand accountability from the companies building it. Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.”This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.