AI未来影响之争本质是哲学观念冲突,而非技术分歧。
Making AI Inevitable: Historical Perspective and the Problems of Predicting Long-Term Technological Change
- 区分'变革派'与'怀疑派'两大阵营,揭示其根本分歧
- 强调非生物智能可能性、预测时间尺度等非技术议题的关键作用
- 适合关注AI长期影响的政策制定者与思想界人士阅读
本文指出,关于人工智能未来的主流争论,本质上是关于技术变革历史与前景的主观哲学分歧,而非对技术本身的客观争议。研究聚焦于人工通用智能(AGI)是否将深刻改变人类社会这一核心问题,该问题先于其影响是利是弊。文中划分出两大对立阵营:主张技术必然带来深远变革的‘变革派’,以及不相信AI能实现高期待的‘怀疑派’。两派又分‘强’与‘弱’两种变体,取决于对认知风险的容忍度。研究重点分析三个关键分歧点:非生物智能的可能性、技术预测的时间框架、技术发展的既定轨迹。通过揭示这些非技术性争论,阐明支持双方立场的不同论证路径,同时指出变革派所面临的强烈论证负担,以及该信念带来的先发优势竞争压力,并呼吁拓展讨论中‘专家’的定义范畴。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
This study demonstrates the extent to which prominent debates about the future of AI are best understood as subjective, philosophical disagreements over the history and future of technological change rather than as objective, material disagreements over the technologies themselves. It focuses on the deep disagreements over whether artificial general intelligence (AGI) will prove transformative for human society; a question that is analytically prior to that of whether this transformative effect will help or harm humanity. The study begins by distinguishing two fundamental camps in this debate. The first of these can be identified as "transformationalists," who argue that continued AI development will inevitably have a profound effect on society. Opposed to them are "skeptics," a more eclectic group united by their disbelief that AI can or will live up to such high expectations. Each camp admits further "strong" and "weak" variants depending on their tolerance for epistemic risk. These stylized contrasts help to identify a set of fundamental questions that shape the camps' respective interpretations of the future of AI. Three questions in particular are focused on: the possibility of non-biological intelligence, the appropriate time frame of technological predictions, and the assumed trajectory of technological development. In highlighting these specific points of non-technical disagreement, this study demonstrates the wide range of different arguments used to justify either the transformationalist or skeptical position. At the same time, it highlights the strong argumentative burden of the transformationalist position, the way that belief in this position creates competitive pressures to achieve first-mover advantage, and the need to widen the concept of "expertise" in debates surrounding the future development of AI.
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。