Newsletter No. 476

476 • 19.4.2016 7 機器技術擊倒腦袋 The Machine KOs the Brain 今年3月，由Google DeepMind開發的「阿爾法圍棋」人工 智能程式擊敗了人類最高級別棋士 李世 乭 九段，媒體報道 南韓有不少圍棋愛好者對這個殘酷的結果感到難以接受。 試想今後大家繼續改進棋力的誘因還存在嗎？無疑，對全 球僅有的極少數高手來說，頂級電腦程式的「棋藝」或會令 他們耳目一新，有所裨益。但對普羅棋迷而言，圍棋這個被 普遍認為智力要求最高的棋類遊戲，看來已經被電腦徹底 征服了。 我們暫且不去討論科幻作者的可怕預言，即機器終有一天 將操控人類。而事實是人工智能和自動系統在很多領域已 逐漸進佔人類的崗位：如從事精準組裝的工業機器人、半自 動和全自動的集體運輸交通工具、無人駕駛車輛、由程式運 行的網購系統、家居自動清潔裝置、自動監控的保安系統、 懂得感知人類健康狀况的醫療機器人、能感知情緒的電子 寵物等，例子不勝枚舉。 二十年前的IBM Deep Blue、五年前的Watson和現在的 「阿爾法圍棋」，已說明人工智能絕對有能力進行諸如商業 决策、程式投資買賣、博弈等人類世界的高階智力活動。人 類如果在勞動力、勤奮度、精準度和智力等方面，均慢慢地 失去競爭力，不少工作崗位將步農業和工業自動化的後塵 而被逼轉型。問題是有關的轉變規模之大、速度之猛是否 現今人類所能適應？工作被取代的人們將何去何從？來得及 發展新的技能嗎？社會還有適合他們的崗位嗎？ In March, the AI programme ‘AlphaGO’ developed by Google DeepMind defeated the highest graded Go player Lee Sedol . According to news reports, many Go lovers in South Korea found this cruel result hard to swallow. Who 治病訣竅唯一笑 Jest is Best 中醫學建基於陰陽調和，古希臘則有四體液論，認為人的體 質和脾性為血液、黃膽汁、黑膽汁和黏液所調控。均衡則體 健，失衡則病侵。 今時今日，英文 humour 一字仍載有體液分泌或情緒之意， 不過，當然也解作令人會心微笑的妙趣。中文譯為「幽默」， 按《辭海》定義，是「美學名詞……在善意的微笑中揭露生 活中乖訛和不通情理之處」。 人們愛說一笑能治百病，笑跟維他命C和阿士匹靈一樣， 是現代科學公認的妙方。科學家目睹不少例證，笑有益心 臟、增強免疫系統、抗抑鬱、製造好處數之不盡的安多酚， 但卻知其然而不知其所以然。著名心理學家和神經科學家 Richard J. Davidson 2013年3月到訪逸夫書院，以「改變思 想，改變大腦」為題演講。在回答觀眾提問時，也提到快樂 的人通常也更健康。 早在幽默療法興起之前，二十世紀天才橫溢的科學家J.B.S. Haldane（1892 – 1964）便以此自療了。他確診自己患了癌 症，沒有呼天搶地，而是詩興大發，寫了 ‘ Cancer s a Funny Thing ’ ，聲言以笑聲助醫生一臂之力，擊退病魔： would learn Go anymore? For the handful of Go maestros around the world, AlphaGO’s moves will certainly give them pause to think or even improve. But for the average Go player, the game that generally believed to require the highest human intelligence to play has fallen to the speed and memory of the computer or supercomputer. Leaving aside the bleak future drawn by some sci-fi writers, there is no denying that AI and automated systems have moved into places used to be occupied by the human brain and the human hand. Examples are abundant: precision industrial robots, semi- or fully automated public transport, autonomous cars, internet shopping systems, automated home cleaning devices, self-monitoring security systems, medical robots which collect biodata and provide Chinese medicine is built essentially on the equilibrium theory of yin and yang . The ancient Greeks believed in Humorism, the theory that health and temperament were regulated by four fluids or humours (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm). Healthy if in balance; disease if not. The word humour still means a fluid secretion or a mood. But it also means the positive smile or laugh inducing feeling of fun. People have come to regard laughter as the best medicine. Along with Vitamin C and aspirin, it is highly regarded by modern medical science. Scientists saw plenty of evidence that laughter did good to the heart, boost the immune system, fight depression and produce endorphins with endlessly beneficial effects, but could offer no explanation. Richard J. Davidson , famous psychologist and neuroscientist, came to Shaw College in March 2013 to give a talk ‘Change the Brain by Transforming the Mind’. In answer to a question from the floor, he noted that happier people were generally healthier people. But even before the advent of humour therapy, the great scientist and fierce intellect of the twentieth century J.B.S. Haldane (1892–1964) was administering one form of it to himself. After he was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote the poem ‘Cancer’s a Funny Thing’: health care, and electronic pets which can ‘feel’ the moods of their masters. From the IBM Deep Blue two decades ago to Watson five years ago and now AlphaGO, AI has proved its worth in advanced mental activities such as business decisions, algorithmic trading and games. Human beings are losing ground in terms of labour, industriousness, precision and intelligence. Many jobs would be taken from the hands of humans and those are not farmers or factory workers. Given the scale and pace of the change, are we ready for this? What is left there for us to do? Can new skills be developed fast enough? Where in the world would the humans fit in? I wish I had the voice of Homer To sing of rectal carcinoma, Which kills a lot more chaps, in fact, Than were bumped off when Troy was sacked. …. I'll swear, without the risk of perjury, It was a snappy bit of surgery. My rectum is a serious loss to me, But I've a very neat colostomy, …. 寶健保健 Wealth In Health 字裏高科 Tech Talks Provided one confronts the tumour With a sufficient sense of humour. I know that cancer often kills, But so do cars and sleeping pills: And it can hurt one till one sweats, So can bad teeth and unpaid debts. A spot of laughter, I am sure, Often accelerates one’s cure; So let us patients do our bit To help the surgeons make us fit. LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE 梁光漢 Philip Leung ’