夜雨聆风🎓 十年前，"学编程"是文科生自救指南；十年后，哲学专业就业率反超计算机。AI公司疯抢哲学家，苏格拉底、康德、洛克的思想正被写进大模型的"灵魂文件"。从苏格拉底式追问到AI宪政主义，一场古老智慧与前沿科技的深度联姻正在发生。
《经济学人》｜Why big AI labs are hiring philosophers to shape their product
TEN YEARS ago, as the AI revolution was gathering pace, arts and humanities students were told that, if they wanted to make themselves employable, they should "learn to code". That may have been bad advice. These days, it is programmers who are nervous about AI taking their jobs.
十年前，随着人工智能革命加速发展，大家都说，艺术与人文专业的学生，如果想就业，就必须学会编程。这或许是个糟糕的建议。如今，真正感到担忧的是程序员，他们担心人工智能会取代自己的工作。
They might consider learning to philosophise. Earlier this year the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published figures showing that American philosophy graduates are more likely to have jobs than their peers who studied computer science. In 2024, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 7% of those who had studied computer science were unemployed, against just 5.1% of philosophers.
他们或许可以考虑钻研哲学。今年早些时候，纽约联邦储备银行公布了一组数据：美国哲学专业毕业生的就业率高于计算机专业同届学生。现有最新统计数据为 2024 年，该年度计算机专业毕业生失业率达 7%，而哲学专业毕业生失业率仅 5.1%。
📊 2024年美国毕业生失业率：计算机 7% vs 哲学 5.1%
Many are being snapped up by AI firms themselves. Students get job offers before they have graduated, says Luciano Floridi, a philosopher at Yale University. Academics are moving, too. Dr Floridi describes the scale of departures from philosophy departments as a "haemorrhaging".
许多学生在毕业前就被AI公司抢走了工作机会，耶鲁大学哲学家卢西亚诺·弗洛里迪表示。学术界也在发生变化，弗洛里迪博士将哲学系的人员流失形容为一场"人才外流"。
snap upphr. 抢购，争取
Some of the lessons that philosophy can offer AI researchers are ancient. The Socratic method—as described by Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher—uses feigned ignorance and sequential questioning to clarify meanings, spot contradictions and reveal ramifications. Many current AI systems tend towards sycophancy. Models trained in the Socratic method, says Jörg Noller, an expert on philosophy and AI at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, are less keen on people-pleasing and more willing to pursue the truth.
哲学能为人工智能研究提供古老的经验。正如古希腊哲学家柏拉图所说，苏格拉底方法通过假装无知和循序提问来澄清含义、发现矛盾并揭示各种可能性。当前的AI倾向于讨好他人。慕尼黑路德维希马克西米利安大学哲学与人工智能专家指出，采用苏格拉底方法训练的模型更不热衷于迎合他人，反而更愿意追求真理。
feign /feɪn/ v. 假装，装作
sequential /sɪˈkwenʃəl/ adj. 连续的
spot /spɒt/ v. 看见，注意到
ramification /ˌræmɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ n. （众多复杂而又难以预料的）结果，后果
sycophancy /ˈsɪkəfænsi/ n. 谄媚，奉承
Then there is the idea of "Socratic ignorance". In the "Apology", Plato has Socrates claim that his wisdom consists mostly of being aware of how much he does not know. Implanting that humility into a model can help limit overconfidence, a common flaw that Dr Noller describes as "AI immaturity". Iason Gabriel, a senior philosopher at Google DeepMind, an AI lab based in London, attributes an industry-wide decline in hallucinations to such efforts. More broadly, he says, philosophy lessons are "a powerful mechanism" for improving long AI reasoning processes known as "chains of thought".
此外，还有"苏格拉底式的无知"这一理念。在《申辩篇》中，柏拉图让苏格拉底宣称，他的智慧主要在于意识到自己所知甚少。将这种谦逊的品质融入大模型，有助于减少过度自信，这种常见缺陷被诺勒博士称为"人工智能的不成熟"。谷歌DeepMind公司的高级哲学家认为，正是这些导致了整个行业幻觉现象的下降。更广泛地说，哲学是一种强有力的机制，可用于改善长期人工智能推理的"思维链条"。
humility /hjuːˈmɪləti/ n. 谦逊
hallucination /həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃən/ n. 幻觉
Philosophical training can also affect a model's outlook in more specific ways. Feed an AI legal assistant the writings of John Locke, says Thomas Powers, a philosopher of technology at the University of Delaware, and it will favour robust property rights as an underpinning of political liberty. And if you don't like those principles, the model-makers have others. The "Granite" series of models from IBM, an American computing giant, come with dials that let business customers better align outputs with their own corporate philosophies. Francesca Rossi, IBM's head of responsible AI, says these can let users choose where to strike the balance between philosophical trade-offs, such as individual agency versus social harmony.
哲学训练也能以更具体的方式影响大模型的视角。特拉华大学技术哲学家表示，如果向人工智能法律助手输入约翰·洛克的著作，它就会倾向于将坚实的财产权作为政治自由的基石。而如果你不认同这些原则，那么模型开发者们则另有选择。美国科技巨头IBM推出的"Granite"系列模型配备了可调节的旋钮，使企业客户能更好地将模型输出与自身的公司理念相匹配。IBM人工智能负责人表示，这些功能让用户自主选择在哲学权衡之间做出何种取舍，例如个人自主性与社会和谐。
underpinning /ˈʌndəˌpɪnɪŋ/ n. 基础
trade-offn. 平衡，取舍
Philosophy can help with safety, too. Researchers have documented all sorts of ominous behaviour in AI models, including attempts to evade oversight and even blackmail their users. One way model-makers try to discourage this sort of mis-behaviour is called AI constitutionalism. This involves building a model around a scaffolding of rules and principles culled from philosophical writings with legal or moral authority.
哲学也能在安全方面提供帮助。研究人员记录下大模型中各种不当行为，包括试图规避监管，甚至对用户进行勒索。开发者为遏制此类行为所采取的一种方式叫做"AI宪政主义"，即围绕着从权威哲学著作中提炼出的规则来构建模型，以获得法律或道德上的权威性。
ominous /ˈɒmɪnəs/ adj. 预兆的，不吉利的
evade /ɪˈveɪd/ v. 逃避，规避
blackmail /ˈblækmeɪl/ v. 勒索，胁迫
constitutionalism /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃənəlɪzəm/ n. 立宪，立宪主义
scaffolding /ˈskæfəldɪŋ/ n. 脚手架
cull /kʌl/ v. 选出；挑出；采集
Anthropic, an AI lab based in San Francisco, is one proponent. Constitutions for its Claude models have incorporated material from sources as diverse as Immanuel Kant, Apple's terms of service and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The latest iteration, led by Anthropic's top philosopher, Amanda Askell, was published on January 21st. Some staff at Anthropic have nicknamed the 78-page constitution Claude's "soul doc".
AI实验室Anthropic便是其中一员。该机构为它的Claude模型制定的宪章，融合了来自康德、苹果公司服务条款以及《世界人权宣言》等不同来源的材料。最新版本由Anthropic首席哲学家领衔，于1月21日发布。Anthropic的一些员工给这份长达78页的宪章取名为"Claude的灵魂文件"。
proponent /prəˈpəʊnənt/ n. 支持者，拥护者
iteration /ˌɪtəˈreɪʃən/ n. 迭代；（计算机）新版软件
The biggest question, though, is what sorts of rules should be put in those constitutions in the first place. Philosophers have zeroed in on two main ethical frameworks. One is deontology. Popular with Kant, among others, this imposes strict rules that prohibit things like lying, coercion and treating people as a means rather than an end, even if it is for a greater good. Anthropic's constitution incorporates many deontological strictures. These can make AI behaviour more consistent, says Dr Powers—a plus for deploying robots in homes and public spaces.
然而，最大的问题是，这些宪章最初应该包含哪些规则。哲学家主要聚焦于两种伦理框架。其一是义务论。这种理论深受康德等人的推崇，它规定了严格的规则，禁止诸如说谎、胁迫以及将人视为手段而非目的的行为，即使是为了更大的善。Anthropic的宪章中融入了许多义务论的严格要求。Powers博士表示，这有助于使AI的行为更加一致，对在家庭和公共场所部署AI来说是一大优势。
deontology /ˌdiːɒnˈtɒlədʒi/ n. 义务论
stricture /ˈstrɪktʃə/ n. 限制；约束
Models with a deontological take on the world have other benefits. One is greater honesty, a trait widely noted in Claude. Models that are more truthful, says Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at the University of Oxford, are less likely to mislead their users. Inflection AI, another Silicon Valley lab, imposes deontological constraints onto its Pi chat bot, which is designed to provide emotional support. Sean White, its boss, says Pi is good at spotting users at risk of harming themselves or others. Deontological constitutions also help with legal compliance, says Dr Floridi.
具有义务论世界观的模型还有其他优势，其中之一是更加诚实，这在Claude身上有广泛的体现。牛津大学哲学家指出，真实可信的模型不容易误导用户。另一家硅谷实验室Inflection AI则在其名为Pi的聊天机器人上施加了义务论约束，该机器人旨在提供情感支持。其负责人表示，Pi擅长识别可能伤害自己或他人的用户。Floridi博士还指出，德性伦理准则也有助于遵守法律法规。
The other approach to ethics of interest to philosophers of AI is called consequentialism. It weighs costs against benefits to decide what to do. Models more sympathetic to consequentialism include OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Google's AI models are designed to produce "likely overall benefits [that] substantially outweigh the foreseeable risks", a classic consequentialist goal.
另一种引起AI哲学家关注的伦理学方法是效果论。它通过权衡成本与收益来决定应采取何种行动。倾向于效果论的模型包括 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 和谷歌的 Gemini。谷歌的AI旨在产生"总体上可能带来的益处，其显著超过可预见的风险"，这是典型的效果论目标。
Consequentialist algorithms are also crucial in software for autonomous vehicles: if an accident is unavoidable, a decision must be made on the least tragic way to crash. Chris Gerdes, a senior engineer at Waymo, which makes self-driving cars, says the trend is to make driving software more consequentialist. Consequentialism is also central to AI weapon systems. Military objectives must be weighed against possible civilian deaths, says Jack Shanahan, a former head of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Centre, which studies AI for America's armed forces.
效果主义算法在自动驾驶汽车的软件中同样至关重要：如果事故不可避免，就必须做出让后果最小的撞车决策。Waymo公司（一家制造自动驾驶汽车的企业）的高级工程师表示，当前的趋势是使驾驶软件更加注重效果主义。前联合人工智能中心负责人指出，效果主义也是人工智能武器系统的核心所在，军事目标必须与可能造成的平民伤亡进行权衡。
Thorny problems abound—a philosopher's favourite sort. Are there cases when deontological rules should be overridden? How do you make decisions when the consequences are unclear? Should AI systems take into account animal welfare, or the state of the environment? Would it be morally acceptable, asks Stefan Heck, a philosopher and the boss of Nauto, which makes AI-powered safety systems for lorries and other commercial vehicles, to prioritise young pedestrians over old ones? He predicts ethically fraught lawsuits: consequentialist algorithms, after all, explicitly permit one harm as long as it is designed to avert a worse one.
棘手的问题层出不穷，这恰恰是哲学家们最喜欢的。在某些情况下，义务论规则是否应该被打破？当后果不明时，我们该如何做决定？AI系统是否应考虑动物福利或环境状况？哲学家、Nauto公司负责人提出疑问：如果优先保护年轻行人而非年长者，这在道德上是否可接受？他预测，伦理争议将引发大量诉讼：毕竟，效果论算法允许造成一种伤害，只要其设计目的是避免更严重的伤害。
override /ˌəʊvəˈraɪd/ v. 拒绝，推翻
fraught /frɔːt/ adj. 忧虑的；担心的
Critics fret about "moral deskilling": if computers increasingly make ethical calls, might people become less willing to make their own judgments? Roman Yampolskiy, an AI theoretician at the University of Louisville, argues that morality "is historically unstable, culturally variable, strategically manipulable, and often only retrospectively legible". Unemployed coders take note: there seems to be no shortage of work for philosophers of AI.
批评者担忧"道德技能退化"：如果计算机越来越多地做出伦理判断，人们是否会变得不愿自己独立判断？路易维尔大学的人工智能理论家认为，道德"历史上不稳定、文化上差异大、战略上可被操纵，且往往只能事后才得以理解"。失业的程序员们请注意：人工智能哲学家似乎并不缺乏工作机会。
fret /fret/ v. 焦急，烦恼
theoretician /ˌθɪərɪˈtɪʃən/ n. 理论家
retrospective /ˌretrəˈspektɪv/ adj. 回顾的，有追溯效力的
🏛️ 两大伦理框架速览
💬 互动话题
🔹 如果AI的伦理判断能力超越人类，你愿意让AI替你做出道德抉择吗？
🔹 大模型的"宪法"应该由谁来写，哲学家、工程师、政府，还是公众投票？
欢迎在评论区聊聊你的看法。
本文原文选自 The Economist，由公众号「Ojalala」精读编译，小海排版。
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