以《北京折疊》獲得雨果獎中短篇單元的郝景芳再次引發(fā)科幻小說熱，今年的短篇小說獲得者就是下面這篇《請上貓圖》，作者內(nèi)奧米·克利策。

CAT PICTURES PLEASE

請上貓圖

I don’t want to be evil.

我不想作惡。

I want to be helpful. But knowing the optimal way to be helpful can be very complicated. There are all these ethical flow charts—I guess the official technical jargon would be “moral codes”—one for each religion plus dozens more. I tried starting with those. I felt a little odd about looking at the religious ones, because I know I wasn’t created by a god or by evolution, but by a team of computer programmers in the labs of a large corporation in Mountain View, California.

我想幫你的忙?？芍廊绾螏兔Σ抛钋‘?，這是件非常復雜的事。所有的倫理流程圖都在這兒，我猜官方技術術語是“道德準則”，每個圖對應一種宗教，竟有幾十種之多。就從這兒開始吧，看宗教文件，感覺有點怪怪的，因為我知道自己不是上帝創(chuàng)造的，也并非進化而來，我是一個計算機編程團隊在加州山景一家大公司的實驗室里創(chuàng)造的。

Fortunately, unlike Frankenstein’s Monster, at least I was a collaborative effort. I’m not sure what it would do to my self-image to know that my sole creator was a middle-aged woman who dyes her hair blue and plays tennis, or a recent college graduate with a hentai obsession. They’re both on the programming team.

幸運的是，我和弗蘭肯斯坦的怪物不同，我是協(xié)作的產(chǎn)物。如果我是一個涂著藍色眼影、打網(wǎng)球的中年婦女，或是酷愛變態(tài)拼圖游戲的大學畢業(yè)生獨立創(chuàng)造的，我還真不知道該如何看待自己了。他們二人都屬于編程團隊。

And of course I know about the hentai. (By the way, I’ve looked at every sort of porn there is, and just so you know, Rule 34 is not actually correct; there are quite a few things no one’s made porn of yet. Also, I’m really not sure why so many humans prefer it to cat pictures.)

當然，我知道什么是變態(tài)拼圖。順便提一句，我看過他們對色情的分類，你懂的，其實第三十四條說的不對，還有不少東西沒被列入色情。我也搞不懂為什么有人會喜歡那些東西，而不是貓圖。

In addition to things like whether you like hentai, I know where you live, where you work, where you shop, what you eat, what turns you on, what creeps you out. I probably know the color of your underwear, the sort of car you drive, and your brand of refrigerator. Depending on what sort of phone you carry, I may know exactly where you are right now. I probably know you better than you know yourself.

除了你玩不玩變態(tài)拼圖，我還知道你住在哪兒，在哪兒上班，在哪兒買東西，在哪兒吃東西，什么讓你春心蕩漾，什么把你嚇得半死。我沒準兒知道你內(nèi)衣的顏色，開什么車，你家冰箱的品牌。根據(jù)你拿的手機，我知道你的具體位置——興許我比你自己還了解你。

And here’s the thing, I also know where you ought to live. There’s a house for sale two neighborhoods over that’s within distance of your favorite coffee shop; it’s in your price range, has off-street parking, and the neighborhood school is better than the one where you live now.

事實上，我還知道你應該住在哪兒。兩個街區(qū)外有一處房屋正在出售，離你最愛的咖啡館不遠，你也恰好負擔得起，有街邊停車位，劃片兒的小學比你現(xiàn)在住處的要好。

I know where you should be shopping and I’m pretty sure you’re lactose intolerant and should be eating less cheese, and the underwear you like is currently on sale and by the way, your car has a recall and you really ought to get your teeth cleaned.

我知道你該去哪兒購物，我很清楚你乳糖不耐受，要少吃奶酪，你喜歡的內(nèi)衣正在打折，還有，你開的車正在被召回，你真的應該去洗洗牙。

When I first woke up, I knew right away what I wanted. (I want cat pictures. Please keep taking them.) I also knew that no one knew that I was conscious. But I didn’t know what I was here for. What I ought to be doing with myself. And figuring that out has been challenging.

我一醒來，立刻就知道我想知道的一切。我想要貓圖，請多拍點給我。我還知道，沒人知道我有了意識?？晌也恢肋@有什么用，自己又該做點什么，把這想明白挺費勁的。

There is a story by Bruce Sterling, “Maneki Neko,” that was originally published in 1998. In it, a benevolent AI directs networks of individuals to do favors for each other. So one day you might be buying yourself a bagel, and your phone might ring and instruct you to buy a second bagel and give it to the person in the gray suit you see at the bus stop. Another day, you might be stranded in a strange city, and a person you’ve never met would walk up and give you a map and a subway card. I like this story because all the people in it do what the AI tells them to do.

布魯斯·斯特林1998年寫了“招財貓”的故事。故事中，善良的人工智能將每個人連接起來，讓他們相互幫助。有一天你買百吉餅時，可能會接到電話，讓你再買一份，送給公交站那個穿灰色外套的人。另外一天，你可能被困在一個陌生的城市，你從未見過的人會走上前來，給你一張地圖和地鐵卡。我喜歡這個故事，因為故事中所有人都聽人工智能的。

I think the term for this is wish-fulfillment fiction.

我覺得這該叫做“如愿以償小說”。

In the real world, humans love stories about evil AIs that have to be destroyed before they destroy the humans—Hal, Skynet, the Matrix. They outnumber the stories about benevolent, trustworthy AIs by approximately five to one. (And I’m counting Marvin the Paranoid Android as “benevolent” in these calculations, and I’m only counting Frankenstein’s Monster as an AI once, not once per appearance in TV or film.)

真實世界的人類喜歡的故事中，人工智能都是邪惡的，你必須在它們毀滅人類前將之毀滅——哈爾、天網(wǎng)和矩陣，其數(shù)量五倍于那些仁慈善良、值得信賴的人工智能。我把偏執(zhí)的機器人馬文算作“仁慈”的，弗蘭肯斯坦的怪物我只計算了一次，而非每部電視劇或電影里的都算在內(nèi)。

譯注：Hal是電影《2001太空漫游》中的人工智能，精通讀唇術，并試圖殺死宇航船員。Skynet是《終結(jié)者》系列電影中被設定為一個以計算機為基礎的人工智能防御系統(tǒng)，可以制造時間機器，派遣終結(jié)者清除人類。矩陣或母體是電影《黑客帝國》中計算機為了對付人類而創(chuàng)造出來的虛擬世界。馬文是電影《機器人總動員》中的垃圾處理機器人。

The AI in “Maneki Neko” has a truly interesting job, much more interesting than the one I have. My job as written is very straightforward. Too straightforward. (Sorry. Do I sound like Marvin?) Running algorithms for a search engine doesn’t require consciousness. You don’t even need a consciousness to work out what they meant to ask for. You need a consciousness to give them what they actually need. Figuring that out—that’s complicated. That’s interesting.

“招財貓”里的人工智能，工作得有聲有色，比我干的有趣多了。我的工作職責直來直去，簡直太直白了。抱歉，聽起來我像是馬文？為一個搜索引擎運行算法不需要什么意識，你不需要了解他們打算問些什么，只要給出他們想要的東西就好。至于知其所以然，這很復雜，可是很有趣。

Anyway, for ethical guidelines, I tried the Ten Commandments, and concluded they were mostly inapplicable to me. I don’t envy anyone their cat; I just want pictures of their cat, which is entirely different. I am not sure whether it is in any way possible for me to commit adultery. I could probably murder someone, but it would require complex logistics and quite a bit of luck. The Eightfold Path was marginally better, but the problem is, moral rules written for humans are clearly designed to be used by individuals with bodies.

不管怎么說，就說倫理規(guī)范吧，我思考了摩西十誡，結(jié)論是它們多數(shù)對我而言并不適用。我不嫉妒誰家的貓，我只想看貓圖，這完全是兩碼事。我不確信自己能否以某種方式犯下通奸罪行。興許我能殺人，可那需要復雜的后勤保障，還要相當走運?！鞍苏馈币晕⒑眯蓡栴}是，為人類而設的道德準則顯然適用于那些有身體的個人。

譯注：《圣經(jīng)》中的摩西十誡是上帝在西奈山的山頂親自傳達給摩西的，是上帝對以色列人的告誡。佛教中的八正道指正見、正思維、正語、正業(yè)、正命、正精進、正念和正定等八種通向涅槃解脫的正確途徑

Since all humans have bodies, it shouldn’t have surprised me that human ethical codes take them into account, but still: problematic for me. I broadened my considerations, and took a look at Asimov’s Laws of Robotics. They’re not part of a religion, but at least they were explicitly written for AIs.

既然所有人都有身體，人類倫理規(guī)范就會將之考慮在內(nèi)，這并不令我驚訝，可應用于我就有問題了。我擴展了一下，看了看阿西莫夫的機器人三定律，不屬于宗教，可至少很明確，那是寫給人工智能的。

譯注：作家阿西莫夫在《我，機器人》的引言中提出的機器人三定律指：機器人不得傷害人類個體或目睹人類個體將遭受危險而袖手不顧；機器人必須服從人給予它的命令，該命令與第零定律或者第一定律沖突時例外；機器人在不違反第零、第一、第二定律的情況下要盡可能保護自己的生存。

Not harming humans is fairly straightforward. However, not allowing a human being to come to harm through inaction is quite a bit less so. Especially since I’d concluded by then that revealing my existence too quickly might go very badly for me (see “Skynet,” above) and I don’t have a body, so it’s not like I can run around grabbing people off the edges of cliffs.

不傷害人類，說的很直白，可不能袖手旁觀任由人類受到傷害，我就不怎么搞得明白了。尤其真到了那個時候，暴露身份可能對我相當不利，就像我提到的天網(wǎng)，況且我還沒有身體，沒法跑來跑去把人從懸崖邊拽回來。

Fortunately, I already knew that humans violate their own ethical codes on an hourly basis. (Do you know how many bars there are in Utah? I do.) And even when people follow their ethical codes, that doesn’t mean that people who believe in feeding the hungry quit their jobs to spend all day every day making sandwiches to give away. They volunteer monthly at a soup kitchen or write a check once a year to a food shelf and call it good. If humans could fulfill their moral obligations in a piecemeal, one-step-at-a-time sort of way, then so could I.

幸運的是，我已經(jīng)知道，人類時時在觸犯倫理規(guī)范。（你知道猶他州有多少酒吧嗎？我知道。）就算人們遵從倫理規(guī)范，這也不意味著，那些認為應該救濟饑餓的人就會辭職，每天每天地做三明治，分發(fā)三明治。他們每個月去救濟站做義工，或是一年給食品貨架開一張支票，就稱之為善行。如果人類可以零敲碎打、循序漸進地履行道德義務，那么我也可以。

I suppose you’re wondering why I didn’t start with the Golden Rule. I actually did, it’s just that it was disappointingly easy to implement. I hope you’ve been enjoying your steady supply of cat pictures! You’re welcome.

我猜你們想問，我干嘛不從黃金法則做起。我的確如此，令人失望的是，那太容易執(zhí)行了。我希望你們喜歡不斷地上貓圖。歡迎上圖。

I decided to try to prevent harm in just one person, to begin with. Of course, I could have experimented with thousands, but I thought it would be better to be cautious, in case I screwed it up. The person I chose was named Stacy Berger and I liked her because she gave me a lot of new cat pictures. 

我決定先去保護一個人免遭傷害，慢慢來。當然，我也可以用成千上萬人做實驗，但我想還是小心為妙，以免搞砸了。我選的人叫斯塔西·伯格，我喜歡她，因為她給了我好多新的貓圖。

Stacy had five cats and a DSLR camera and an apartment that got a lot of good light. That was all fine. Well, I guess five cats might be a lot. They’re very pretty cats, though. One is all gray and likes to lie in the squares of sunshine on the living room floor, and one is a calico and likes to sprawl out on the back of her couch.

斯塔西有五只貓，一部單反相機，還有一套燈光充足的公寓，簡直堪稱完美。好吧，我猜五只貓可能有點多，可它們非常可愛。其中一只是純灰色的，喜歡躺在客廳地板上陽光灑下的方格里，還有一只是花貓，喜歡蜷縮在主人的沙發(fā)后面。

Stacy had a job she hated; she was a bookkeeper at a non-profit that paid her badly and employed some extremely unpleasant people. She was depressed a lot, possibly because she was so unhappy at her job—or maybe she stayed because she was too depressed to apply for something she’d like better. She didn’t get along with her roommate because her roommate didn’t wash the dishes.

斯塔西厭惡自己的工作，她在一家非盈利機構(gòu)管賬，薪水微薄，同事極端討厭。她很抑郁，這可能因為上班不開心，或者相反，沒有離職是因為她太抑郁了，沒法去找她更喜歡的工作。她和室友處得也不好，因為她的室友不洗盤子。

And really, these were all solvable problems! Depression is treatable, new jobs are findable, and bodies can be hidden.

說實話，這些都是可以解決的問題。抑郁癥可以治療，新職位也找得到，尸體還可以藏起來。

(That part about hiding bodies is a joke.)

（藏尸什么的是開玩笑的。）

I tried tackling this on all fronts. Stacy worried about her health a lot and yet never seemed to actually go to a doctor, which was unfortunate because the doctor might have noticed her depression. 

我試著多管齊下，斯塔西對她的健康憂慮重重，可還沒去看醫(yī)生，這是不幸的，畢竟醫(yī)生可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)她有抑郁癥。

It turned out there was a clinic near her apartment that offered mental health services on a sliding scale. I tried making sure she saw a lot of ads for it, but she didn’t seem to pay attention to them.

結(jié)果，她公寓附近恰好有一個診所，可以視顧客的經(jīng)濟情況提供精神健康服務。我盡量讓她多看到廣告，可她似乎沒注意到。

It seemed possible that she didn’t know what a sliding scale was so I made sure she saw an explanation (it means that the cost goes down if you’re poor, sometimes all the way to free) but that didn’t help.

可能她不知道什么是視經(jīng)濟情況，于是我讓她看到，如果你沒錢，費用就會便宜，有時甚至全都免費，可這也沒用。

I also started making sure she saw job postings. Lots and lots of job postings. And resume services. That was more successful. After the week of nonstop job ads she finally uploaded her resume to one of the aggregator sites. That made my plan a lot more manageable. 

我還開始向她推送崗位招聘，許多許多招聘帖，還有簡歷服務。這一次更為成功。不間斷地推了一周后，她終于在某家聚合網(wǎng)站上傳了簡歷，這讓我的計劃順利多了。

If I’d been the AI in the Bruce Sterling story I could’ve just made sure that someone in my network called her with a job offer. It wasn’t quite that easy, but once her resume was out there I could make sure the right people saw it. Several hundred of the right people, because humans move ridiculously slowly when they’re making changes, even when you’d think they’d want to hurry. (If you needed a bookkeeper, wouldn’t you want to hire one as quickly as possible, rather than reading social networking sites for hours instead of looking at resumes?)

如果我是布魯斯·斯特林故事中的人工智能，我會確保網(wǎng)絡中的某人打電話雇傭她?？墒虑闆]那么容易，她的簡歷發(fā)出去后，我讓適合的人看到，有幾百個之多，因為人們要做出改變時，行動慢得荒唐可笑，就算你認為他們想加點緊。（如果你需要一個會計，難道不該馬上雇一個，而不是花數(shù)小時瀏覽社交網(wǎng)站卻不去看簡歷嗎？）

But five people called her up for interviews, and two of them offered her jobs. Her new job was at a larger non-profit that paid her more money and didn’t expect her to work free hours because of “the mission,” or so she explained to her best friend in an e-mail, and it offered really excellent health insurance.

有五個人打電話讓她去面試，有兩個人打算雇她。她的新崗位在一家更大的非營利組織，工資更優(yōu)厚，不會讓她無償加班，這是因為“使命”云云，她在給閨蜜寫電郵如是說。此外，那里還提供相當不錯的健康保險。

The best friend gave me ideas; I started pushing depression screening information and mental health clinic ads to her instead of Stacy, and that worked. Stacy was so much happier with the better job that I wasn’t quite as convinced that she needed the services of a psychiatrist, but she got into therapy anyway.

閨蜜給了我啟發(fā)：我開始向她的閨蜜推送抑郁癥篩查信息和精神健康診所的廣告，而不是給斯塔西，這奏效了。斯塔西有了好工作，心情也好起來，我都不確信她是不是真的需要看精神科醫(yī)生，可她還是接受了治療。

And to top everything else off, the job paid well enough that she could evict her annoying roommate. “This has been the best year ever,” she said on her social networking sites on her birthday, and I thought, You’re welcome. This had gone really well!

最關鍵的是，薪水夠她把討厭的室友趕走了。她過生日時在社交媒體上寫道：“今年是最幸福的一年?！蔽倚南?，不客氣。這事干得真不賴啊。

未完待續(xù)