AI狂奔之下普通民众的焦虑 | 读外刊·加拿大新闻媒体网站Friday Things

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这是加拿大新闻媒体网站Friday Things发布的深度评论文章。文章以OpenAI创始人山姆·奥特曼住宅遭纵火枪击事件为切入点，剖析AI技术高速发展下全球年轻人的普遍焦虑与愤怒情绪。文章指出，民众的抗议不止针对AI行业，更是一场愈演愈烈的阶级冲突：科技巨头疯狂敛财、贫富差距空前加剧、各行各业资本持续压榨普通劳动者，AI进一步大规模替代白领工作，让普通人对失业、无家可归的未来彻底绝望，最终引发极端反抗行为。文章最后警示，民众并非被动承受变革，全球精英阶层必须正视日益激化的阶级矛盾。

 民众行动起来——我们要向富人宣战

Get In, Everyone—We’re Going to Eat the Rich

上周，三名年轻人针对OpenAI首席执行官山姆·奥特曼发起了两起独立袭击事件：周五，一名20岁男子涉嫌向奥特曼位于旧金山的住宅投掷燃烧瓶，点燃了住宅的外大门；随后他前往OpenAI办公地点，扬言要烧毁整栋大楼。

Last week, three young people attacked OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in two separate incidents: on Friday, a 20-year-old man allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s San Francisco home, where it set an exterior gate on fire, before making his way to OpenAI’s office, where he threatened to set the building on fire.

周日，另外两名分别25岁、23岁的嫌疑人，涉嫌向奥特曼住宅开枪，随后被警方逮捕。这些事件引发了大量媒体报道，事件后续也涌现出大量分析内容，全部聚焦于年轻人对AI日益高涨的愤怒情绪。

Then, on Sunday, two suspects—aged 25 and 23—were arrested after allegedly firing a gun at Altman’s home. These incidents have sparked plenty of media coverage and a wave of analysis that dropped in the days following these incidents, all focused on young people’s growing anger over AI.

一方面，这些评论者的观点并非毫无道理。科技精英阶层与其心腹圈子之间，正在形成越来越深的割裂；这群人公然坦承，自己的目标就是不断、无休止地积累财富，甚至不惜剥夺普通人所有的社会保障福利。而普通人理所应当地对失业、流离失所、地球沦为荒芜废墟的未来前景感到无比排斥。

On one hand, the pundits aren’t wrong. There is an ever-growing disconnect between the tech bro elite and their cronies (who openly and clearly admit their goal is to accumulate more and more and more and more wealth, ideally by eliminating every societal safety net for the average person) and said average person (who understandably finds the prospect of joblessness, homelessness and a barren wasteland of a planet unappealing).

与此同时，AI行业高管们公然承认，AI有能力彻底摧毁我们如今所知的世界，是真真切切、字面意义上的毁灭。去年，人工智能公司Anthropic的首席执行官达里奥·阿莫代伊表示，未来1到5年内，AI可能会淘汰半数入门级白领工作，将失业率飙升至10%-20%。这会导致科技、金融、法律、咨询等各行各业大量白领岗位大规模消失，尤其是入门级兼职岗位。阿莫代伊是在自家公司发布最新聊天机器人产品后说出这番话的，显然他对这场即将到来的经济浩劫，完全毫不在意。

At the same time, A.I. CEOs are openly admitting that A.I. has the potential to annihilate the world as we know it. Like, literally annihilate. Last year, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years [leading to] the possible mass elimination of jobs across technology, finance, law, consulting and other white-collar professions, especially entry-level gigs. Amodei was saying all of that on the heels of his company releasing its latest chatbot, so he clearly wasn’t too worried about this coming economic apocalypse.

但问题在于：AI并不是唯一一个持续压榨普通民众的行业。事实上，埃隆·马斯克、马克·扎克伯格、山姆·奥特曼等一众大佬所信奉的、掠夺式垄断资本家的逐利理念，如今已经无处不在、根深蒂固。

But here’s the thing: A.I. isn’t the only sector where regular people are being exploited on the regular. In fact, it feels like the wealthy industrialist/robber baron ethos embraced by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Altman et al. is actually entrenched everywhere.

食品零售巨头漫天涨价压榨消费者，面包、肉类商品不断恶意加价；快消集团全面推行缩水通胀套路，偷偷把洗洁精、薯片的包装容量缩小，价格却一分不降；房地产企业肆意抬高租金，一心追求利润最大化。

Grocery magnates are price-gouging shoppers, overcharging for bread and, more recently, meat. Consumer packaged goods conglomerates are going all-in on shrinkflation, selling us sneakily smaller bottles of dish detergent and bags of chips, without reducing the price. Real estate companies are driving up rent in an attempt to maximize their profits.

各行各业的雇主，都在用越来越离谱的手段压榨员工：实行不公平的待命排班制度、强制员工兼职零工时、监控远程办公员工，并以所谓“摸鱼偷工时”的莫须有违规为由处罚员工。当然，他们对企业拖欠工资、盗取员工薪水的行为，却毫不在意。一点都不意外。

Employers of all stripes are exploiting their workers in a variety of increasingly creative ways, whether that means adopting unfair ‘on-call’ scheduling practices, restricting their employees to part-time hours or monitoring their remote employees to punish them for perceived infractions of ‘time theft.’ (Of course, they’re not very concerned about wage theft. Shocker.)

更令人震惊、难以接受的是：各行各业有权有势的权贵虐待、侵害、残害儿童与年轻女性的恶行，都有明确记录留存，却从来没有人对此采取任何行动。综合所有现状我们能清晰看到：有这样一个特权阶层，把压榨剥削其余所有人牟利，视作自己天经地义、不可剥夺的权利。难怪民众，尤其是年轻人满心愤怒；也难怪他们会诉诸暴力，或是对他人的暴力行为幸灾乐祸。

Lastly, it is extremely jarring to realize that there is documentation of power brokers across every single sector abusing, raping and torturing children and young women, and no one will ever do anything about it. Taken together, it feels very clear that there is a class of people who see profiting off the rest of us as some kind of divine, or at least inalienable, right. No wonder people, and especially young people, are angry. And no wonder they’re reacting with violence or glee at someone else’s violence.

在这样的大背景下，针对奥特曼的袭击，和以下这些人的行为本质完全一致：27岁被指控杀害联合健康集团首席执行官布莱恩·汤普森的路易吉·曼乔内；还有29岁的沙梅尔·阿卜杜勒卡里姆，他涉嫌上周在加州仓库制造六级大火，彻底烧毁整栋建筑以及内部财物，总损失高达5亿美元的金佰利纸业货品。他在社交媒体发布的视频里说道：“当初你们只要给我们开够工资就行了。”

In that context, the attacks against Altman feel aligned with the actions of Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, or 29-year-old Chamel Abdulkarim, who is accused of igniting a six-alarm blaze at a California warehouse last week, totally destroying the building and its contents, which amounted to about $500 million of Kimberly-Clark paper goods. In a video posted to social media, he can be heard saying, “Should have paid us more.”

他在和同事朋友交谈时，把自己比作曼乔内，并炫耀自己造成了企业数十亿美元的损失。他接着说道：“你们当初只要付给我们能活下去的薪水就够了。把我们创造的价值，多分我们一点。而不是全给企业、全给股东。从来没见过股东来上班顶班。”

And, in conversations with co-workers and friends, he compared himself to Mangione and boasted that he “just cost these [expletive] billions [of dollars]” before going on to say, “all you had to do was pay us enough to live. Pay us more of the value WE bring. Not corporate. Didn’t see the shareholders picking up a shift.”

不断向民众宣扬你的产品将会颠覆他们的生活、抢走他们的工作、甚至可能对人类造成生存威胁，久而久之，民众自然会相信你说的一切。近期一项针对Z世代的调查显示，42%的受访者对AI感到焦虑，31%的受访者对AI感到愤怒。

If you tell people often enough that your product is going to upend their way of life, take their jobs, and very possibly pose an existential threat to humanity, they just might start to believe you. A recent survey of Gen Z found that forty-two percent of respondents felt ‘anxiety’ about A.I. and thirty-one percent felt ‘anger.’

但我认为，针对奥特曼的袭击，远不止是单一行业的民众反抗，而是一个更庞大、更混乱的信号。我们眼前正在发生的，是一场完全在意料之中的阶级冲突。AI行业的爆发式繁荣，让奥特曼、英伟达黄仁勋这类本就富有的科技巨头财富飙升到全新高度，也催生了一大批新晋亿万富豪。2000到2020年，随着科技垄断企业不断巩固权力，美国最顶端0.00001%人群掌握的社会财富份额几乎翻了一倍；到2025年底，这一份额几乎又翻了一倍。

But, I think the attacks on Altman are actually a sign of something bigger and messier than a backlash to one industry. What we’re actually seeing is an entirely predictable class conflict. The A.I. boom has propelled already wealthy tech titans, like Altman and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, into new stratospheres of wealth and created a new crop of billionaires. Between 2000 and 2020, as tech monopolies consolidated power, the share of the nation’s wealth held by the top 0.00001 percent roughly doubled. By the end of 2025, it had nearly doubled again.

如今再去说美国最富有的人群掌握的资源，比镀金时代还要多，已经不再是什么新鲜、准确的论调了。这些财富正越来越集中在单一行业，服务于单一逐利目的。美国的寡头统治，已经彻底变成了AI寡头统治。

It is no longer novel or even particularly accurate to note that the richest Americans control a greater share of resources than they did during the Gilded Age. That wealth is increasingly concentrated in a single industry, consumed by a singular purpose. The American oligarchy is an A.I. oligarchy.

我们必须记住：我们并非无力被动承受这些变革。显然，我并不支持投掷燃烧瓶、枪击他人住宅这类暴力行为。但我同样清楚，温和礼貌的诉求，永远无法带来真正的改变。全世界被压榨的劳动者此刻都清醒地意识到了这一点——全球精英阶层，也最好早点明白这个道理。

It’s probably important to remember that we’re not floating through these changes without agency. I don’t think we should throw Molotov cocktails or shoot at people’s houses, obviously. But I also know change doesn’t happen by asking politely. Exploited workers around the world are remembering that right now—and the global elite would do well to do the same.

单词短语

1. Molotov cocktail /ˌmɑːləˈtɔːf ˈkɑːkteɪl/ 燃烧瓶，莫洛托夫燃烧弹

2. exterior /ɪkˈstɪriər/ adj. 外部的，室外的

3. suspect /səˈspekt/ n. 嫌疑人，可疑人员

4. media coverage /ˈmiːdiə ˈkʌvərɪdʒ/ 媒体报道

5. pundit /ˈpʌndɪt/ n. 评论者，专家，权威人士

6. disconnect /ˌdɪskəˈnekt/ n. 割裂，隔阂，脱节

7. elite /eɪˈliːt/ n. 精英阶层，上层人士

8. crony /ˈkroʊni/ n. 心腹，亲信，裙带关系者

9. accumulate /əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/ v. 积累，积聚（财富）

10. eliminate /ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt/ v. 消除，废除，消灭

11. societal safety net /səˈsaɪətl ˈseɪfti net/ 社会保障体系，社会安全网

12. barren /ˈbærən/ adj. 荒芜的，贫瘠的，毫无生机的

13. wasteland /ˈweɪstlənd/ n. 荒地，废墟，荒漠

14. unappealing /ˌʌnəˈpiːlɪŋ/ adj. 令人反感的，毫无吸引力的

15. annihilate /əˈnaɪəleɪt/ v. 彻底毁灭，歼灭，摧毁

16. as we know it /æz wi noʊ ɪt/ 正如我们如今所知的（世界/现状）

17. literally /ˈlɪtərəli/ adv. 字面意义上地，确实，完全

18. white-collar /ˈwaɪt kɑːlər/ adj. 白领的

19. entry-level /ˈentri levl/ adj. 入门级的，初级的，新手的

20. gig /ɡɪɡ/ n. 零工，兼职岗位，临时工作

21. spike /spaɪk/ v. 激增，飙升，急剧上升

22. unemployment /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪmənt/ n. 失业率，失业状况

23. on the heels of /ɑːn ðə hiːlz əv/ 紧随……之后，紧接着

24. apocalypse /əˈpɑːkəlɪps/ n. 浩劫，灾难，世界末日

25. exploit /ɪkˈsplɔɪt/ v. 压榨，剥削，利用

26. on the regular /ɑːn ðə ˈreɡjələr/ 经常，常态化，一直

27. industrialist /ɪnˈdʌstriəlɪst/ n. 实业家，工业巨头

28. robber baron /ˈrɑːbər ˈbærən/ 强盗式资本家，垄断掠夺大亨

29. ethos /ˈiːθɑːs/ n. 理念，精神信仰，价值观

30. embrace /ɪmˈbreɪs/ v. 信奉，拥护，接受

31. entrenched /ɪnˈtrentʃt/ adj. 根深蒂固的，牢不可破的

32. magnate /ˈmæɡneɪt/ n. 行业巨头，大亨，权贵

33. price-gouging /ˈpraɪs ɡaʊdʒɪŋ/ n. 漫天涨价，恶意哄抬物价

34. conglomerate /kənˈɡlɑːmərət/ n. 大型集团，联合企业

35. go all-in on /ɡoʊ ɔːl ɪn ɑːn/ 全力投入，全面推行

36. shrinkflation /ˈʃrɪŋkfleɪʃn/ n. 缩水通胀（减量不降价）

37. sneakily /ˈsniːkɪli/ adv. 偷偷摸摸地，暗中地

38. detergent /dɪˈtɜːrdʒənt/ n. 洗涤剂，洗洁精

39. maximize /ˈmæksɪmaɪz/ v. 最大化，最大限度追求

40. profit /ˈprɑːfɪt/ n. 利润，收益

41. stripe /straɪp/ n. 类型，种类；all stripes 各行各业

42. on-call scheduling /ɑːn kɔːl ˈʃedjuːlɪŋ/ 待命排班制，随叫随到工作制

43. remote /rɪˈmoʊt/ adj. 远程的，居家办公的

44. perceived /pərˈsiːvd/ adj. 被认定的，莫须有的，主观认为的

45. infraction /ɪnˈfrækʃn/ n. 违规，违纪，过错

46. time theft /taɪm θeft/ 工时盗窃，上班摸鱼

47. wage theft /weɪdʒ θeft/ 拖欠工资，盗取员工薪水

48. shocker /ˈʃɑːkər/ n. 令人震惊的事（此处表讽刺：一点都不意外）

49. jarring /ˈdʒɑːrɪŋ/ adj. 令人震惊的，刺耳的，难以接受的

50. documentation /ˌdɑːkjuˈmenˈteɪʃn/ n. 记录，档案，证据
51. power broker /ˈpaʊər ˈbroʊkər/ 权贵，权势人物，幕后操控者
52. taken together /ˈteɪkən təˈɡeðər/ 综合来看，总而言之
53. profit off /ˈprɑːfɪt ɔːf/ 剥削……牟利，靠……获利
54. divine /dɪˈvaɪn/ adj. 神圣的，天经地义的
55. inalienable /ɪnˈeɪliənəbl/ adj. 不可剥夺的，不可分割的
56. glee /ɡliː/ n. 幸灾乐祸，狂喜，开心
57. aligned /əˈlaɪnd/ adj. 一致的，同源的，性质相同的
58. accuse /əˈkjuːz/ v. 指控，控告，起诉
59. ignite /ɪɡˈnaɪt/ v. 点燃，纵火，引燃
60. six-alarm blaze /sɪks əˈlɑːrm bleɪz/ 六级大火，特大火灾
61. amount to /əˈmaʊnt tuː/ 总计，共计，价值达到
62. boast /boʊst/ v. 吹嘘，炫耀，夸口
63. expletive /ɪkˈspletɪv/ n. 脏话，粗鄙用语（原文屏蔽词）
64. upend /ʌpˈend/ v. 颠覆，推翻，彻底改变
65. pose an existential threat /poʊz ən ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃl θret/ 造成生存威胁，致命威胁
66. respondent /rɪˈspɑːndənt/ n. 受访者，应答者
67. backlash /ˈbæklæʃ/ n. 反抗，抵制，反噬
68. predictable /prɪˈdɪktəbl/ adj. 意料之中的，可预见的
69. propel /prəˈpel/ v. 推动，助推，使飙升
70. titan /ˈtaɪtn/ n. 巨头，大亨，超级强者
71. stratosphere /ˈstrætəsfɪr/ n. 平流层；new stratospheres 全新高度，顶峰
72. a new crop of /ə nuː krɑːp əv/ 一批新的，新晋的
73. billionaire /ˌbɪljəˈner/ n. 亿万富豪
74. monopoly /məˈnɑːpəli/ n. 垄断企业，垄断组织
75. consolidate /kənˈsɑːlɪdeɪt/ v. 巩固，加强，集中（权力）
76. novel /ˈnɑːvl/ adj. 新奇的，新鲜的
77. Gilded Age /ˈɡɪldɪd eɪdʒ/ 镀金时代（美国历史贫富差距巅峰时期）
78. concentrate /ˈkɑːnsntreɪt/ v. 集中，聚集
79. singular /ˈsɪŋɡjələr/ adj. 单一的，唯一的
80. oligarchy /ˈɑːlɪɡɑːrki/ n. 寡头统治寡头政权
81. float /floʊt/ v. 漂浮，被动随波逐流，无力改变
82. agency /ˈeɪdʒənsi/ n. 主观能动性，行动力，掌控权