評論
打印
Science and technology
科學技術
Intelligence testing
智力測試
Who are you calling bird-brained?
叫誰是笨蛋呢？
An attempt is being made to devise a universal intelligence test
人類正嘗試設計一種通用的智力測驗
WHAT is the IQ of a chimpanzee? Or a worm? Or a game-show-winning computer program? Or even an alien from the planet Zaarg who can learn any human language in a day, can beat grandmasters ten at a time and can instantly factor the products of large prime numbers?
黑猩猩、蠕蟲或用于智力競賽的計算機程序，甚至是來自Zaarg星球的外星人外星人能在一天內學會任何一門人類語言，每次都能贏棋類大師10分，能立即分解出大質數的因子，它們的智商是多少呢？
At the moment it is impossible to say.
當問到這類問題，沒有人能回答出來。
IQ tests depend on language, and even Watson, a computer program that beat two human contestants in a special edition of “Jeopardy!”on February 16th, does not have a perfect command of English.
IQ測試依賴于語言，而且就算是Watson系統對英語也不是了如指掌2月16日，Watson系統在美國智力競賽"Jeopardy!"的特別節目中擊敗了兩名人類對手。
In any case there is, at the moment, no meaningful scale on which non-human intelligence can be compared with the human sort.
但不管怎么樣，現在還沒有一個有意義的標尺能用于任何非人類和人類智商的比較。
The most famous test for artificial intelligence is that devised by Alan Turing, a British computing pioneer.
最著名的人工智力測試是由英國計算科學先驅阿蘭圖靈設計的。
To pass the Turing test, and thus be considered intelligent, a program must fool a human being into believing that it is another human being.
為了通過圖靈測試，機器中的程序必須使對方誤以為它也是一個人類，
But the Turing test still requires the program to share a language with the tester and, because it is all or nothing, cannot be used to rank different forms of artificial intelligence against one another.
且如果機器通過了測試，該機器就被認為是人工智能。但圖靈測試仍要求程序和測試者使用相同的語言。并且由于測試的結果是“是”或者“否”，因此不能用于不同形式人工智能間的評級。
José Hernández-Orallo of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in Spain, and David Dowe of Monash University, in Australia, think they can do better than this.
來自西班牙瓦倫西亞理工大學的José Hernández-Orallo和澳大利亞莫納什大學的David Dowe認為他們能設計出比圖靈更完善的測試。
They believe not only that a universal scale of intelligence can be devised, but also that it can be assessed without reference to language.
他們相信不僅能設計出可通用的智商標尺，而且測試可以與語言無關。
If they are right, an insult like “bird-brained” will, in the future, be finely calibrated.
如果真能如他們所說，那么將來就可以精確計算出“愚蠢”的程度了。
Dr Hernández-Orallo and Dr Dowe, both computer scientists, propose to make their measurement by borrowing a concept called Kolmogorov complexity from information theory, a branch of computer science. The Kolmogorov complexity of a computer's output is the shortest possible program that could produce that output.
Hernández-Orallo博士和Dr Dowe博士都是計算機科學家，他們提出：借用信息論中的Kolmogorov復雜度概念來實現測量。計算機輸出的Kolmogorov復雜度是指能產生該輸出的可能最短程序基于計算機代碼的二進制位數。
On this measure, an entity's intelligence would be measured by the Kolmogorov complexity of the most complex tests it can solve—a clear, numerical value.
在這種設計下，可以通過最復雜測試的Kolmogorov復雜度來測量一個實體的智商。
In practice, calculating the true Kolmogorov complexity of a system is almost impossible. But an approximation can be made. And that, the researchers reckon, will be good enough.
實際上，要正確計算出系統的Kolmogorov復雜度幾乎是不可能的。但可以計算出它的近似值。而對研究人員的估算工作而言，近似值也就足夠了。
The actual tests would employ the well-honed methods of operant conditioning, developed initially on pigeons, in which the test subject has first to work out what is going on by trial and error.
實際的測試會采用精確的操作性條件反射方法，測試對象首先要清楚實驗的過程和錯誤。
As in operant conditioning, correct responses would be ewarded—by money, perhaps, for a human being; by bananas for a chimpanzee or by the numerical value itself for an appropriately programmed computer.
在操作性條件反射中，正確的反射響應將得到獎勵—對人而言可能是金錢，對黑猩猩而言是香蕉，對可編程計算機而言則可能是數值本身。
If the test were noughts and crosses, the test-taker would first have to work out that the game is won by getting three in a row on a 3-by-3 grid, before actually going on to play.
如果測驗是畫圈叉游戲，則在進行游戲之前測試參與者首要要弄懂在3X3的網格中，3個格連成一行就贏得游戲了。
A chimpanzee might not manage a test of this level of complexity, but could, maybe, work out the idea of three-in-a-row when only a single row was involved. Chess, though, would surely be beyond it.
黑猩猩可能沒辦法理解這種復雜度等級的測驗，但當只有一行時，它們也許就可以明白"3格-1行"的概念了。
Games like draughts and dominoes would lie somewhere in between.
而象棋的難易度遠超過黑猩猩的理解程度。西洋跳棋和多米諾骨牌這類游戲的難易程度則介于圈叉和象棋之間。
In fact Dr Hernández-Orallo and Dr Dowe do not plan to use existing games. Instead they are employing a computer to enerate novel games and patterns.
實際上，Hernández-Orallo博士和Dowe博士計劃采用計算機產生的新游戲和新花樣來代替已有的游戲。
Their approach eliminates human bias.
他們的方法消除了人類的偏見，
It also allows them to generate tests with any level of complexity they like—even ones that are far beyond the ability of humans to complete.
同時也允許產生任何復雜度等級的測驗—甚至可以是遠超過人類能力的。
When it comes to testing the tests, then, aliens from the planet Zaarg will be particularly welcome to apply.
當可以進行測試時，特別歡迎來自Zaarg星球的外星人。
