Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

• 「好一陣子沒看到這麼值得閱讀的好書了。」──《快思慢想》作者丹尼爾·康納曼
• 「我們等這樣的書很久了。」──《信仰的終結：宗教、恐怖行動及理性的未來》作者山姆．哈里斯
• 入圍2019年《金融時報》和麥肯錫年度最佳商業圖書獎初選

　　人工智能已不再是天方夜譚，而是必然的趨勢，不僅會影響工作型態、人際關係，甚至會成為人類文明的一部分，人類與機器間的道德矛盾已是不可避免，其後果亦不難想像。

　　然而，精通AI研究的學者斯圖爾特·羅素認為，如果我們重新省思AI的生成，會發現，可預見的悲劇並非是不可避免的。顯而易見，我們從中獲益不少：便捷的個人管理工具、乃至提高質、量與速度的科學研究，都仰賴科技的發展。然而，我們並非已達到「超人AI」的境界，卻已經將其濫用於核武及病毒攻擊等用途上。

　　「超人AI」的發明，指日可待，也就是說，我們即將創造出我們力所未及的產物，那怎麼能確保一直是主宰的我們不會被推翻、統治呢？羅素提出，如果AI對於人類的欲求瞭若指掌，它們便會開始自視甚高，所以我們只要改掉這項設定，那它們便會不求私利、謙遜地為我們完成工作。

　　羅素曾在2014年與霍金共同發表一篇學術文章，從中提及：「AI的發明無疑是人類歷史中最偉大的創舉，但也可能是最後的創舉。」而今，控制AI不再是一項不可能的任務，而是照亮未來無限可能的一盞明燈。（文/博客來編譯）

"The most important book on AI this year." --The Guardian

"Mr. Russell's exciting book goes deep, while sparkling with dry witticisms." --The Wall Street Journal

"The most important book I have read in quite some time" (Daniel Kahneman); "A must-read" (Max Tegmark); "The book we've all been waiting for" (Sam Harris)

A leading artificial intelligence researcher lays out a new approach to AI that will enable us to coexist successfully with increasingly intelligent machines

In the popular imagination, superhuman artificial intelligence is an approaching tidal wave that threatens not just jobs and human relationships, but civilization itself. Conflict between humans and machines is seen as inevitable and its outcome all too predictable.

In this groundbreaking book, distinguished AI researcher Stuart Russell argues that this scenario can be avoided, but only if we rethink AI from the ground up. Russell begins by exploring the idea of intelligence in humans and in machines. He describes the near-term benefits we can expect, from intelligent personal assistants to vastly accelerated scientific research, and outlines the AI breakthroughs that still have to happen before we reach superhuman AI. He also spells out the ways humans are already finding to misuse AI, from lethal autonomous weapons to viral sabotage.

If the predicted breakthroughs occur and superhuman AI emerges, we will have created entities far more powerful than ourselves. How can we ensure they never, ever, have power over us? Russell suggests that we can rebuild AI on a new foundation, according to which machines are designed to be inherently uncertain about the human preferences they are required to satisfy. Such machines would be humble, altruistic, and committed to pursue our objectives, not theirs. This new foundation would allow us to create machines that are provably deferential and provably beneficial.