Title:Google pledges not to use AI for weapons or surveillance

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google pledged Thursday that it will not use artificial intelligence in applications related to weapons, surveillance that violates international norms, or that works in ways that go against human rights. It planted its ethical flag on use of AI just days confirming it would not renew a contract with the U.S. military to use its AI technology to analyze drone footage.

SAN FRANCISCO(AP)?谷歌周四承诺，它将不会在有关武器、违反国际准则的监视方面使用人工智能，或以违反人权的方式发挥作用。在证实它将不再续约美国军方使用其AI技术来分析无人机镜头之后的仅仅几天就高举AI道德旗号。

The principles, spelled out by Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a blog post , commit the company to building AI applications that are  "socially beneficial,"  that avoid creating or reinforcing bias and that are accountable to people.

谷歌CEOSundar Pichai在一篇博客上阐述的原则是，公司致力于构建“有利于社会”的AI应用程序，以避免产生或加强偏见，并对人民负责。

The search giant had been formulating a patchwork of policies around these ethical questions for years, but finally put them in writing. Aside from making the principles public, Pichai didn't specify how Google or its parent Alphabet would be accountable for conforming to them. He also said Google would continue working with governments and the military on noncombat applications involving such things as veterans' health care and search and rescue.

这个搜寻巨头多年来一直在围绕这些伦理问题制定零散的政策，但最终还是以书面形式提出这些问题。除了公布这些原则外，Pichai没有具体说明谷歌或其母公司Alphabet将如何对遵守这些原则负责。他还表示，谷歌将继续与各国政府和军方合作，处理涉及退伍军人医疗保健、搜索和救援等事务的非战斗性申请。

"This approach is consistent with the values laid out in our original founders' letter back in 2004,"  Pichai wrote, citing the document in which Larry Page and Sergey Brin set out their vision for the company to  "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

"这种方法符合创始人在2004年回信中提出的价值，"Pichai写道，拉里·佩奇（Larry Pagen）和谢尔盖·布林（Sergey Brin）介绍了他们对“组织世界信息并使信息普遍获得和有效”的设想。

Pichai said the latest principles help it take a long-term perspective  "even if it means making short-term trade-offs."

皮克海说，最新的原则有助于它采取长期观点，即使这意味着做短期折衷。

The document, which also enshrines  "relevant explanations"  of how AI systems work, lays the groundwork for the rollout of Duplex, a human-sounding digital concierge that was shown off booking appointments with human receptionists at a Google developers conference in May.

该文件还载有关于AI系统如何工作的“相关阐释”，为推出Duplex奠定了基础，一个人声数码礼宾，它在谷歌开发商会议上展示出来，和人类接待员共同完成预约工作。

Some ethicists were concerned that call recipients could be duped into thinking the robot was human. Google has said Duplex will identify itself so that wouldn't happen.

一些伦理学家担心电话接听者可能会被骗到认为机器人是人类。谷歌说，Duple将表明自己的身份，这样就不会发生了。

Other companies leading the race developing AI are also grappling with ethical issues — including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft, which have formed a group with Google called the Partnership on AI.

其他引领开发AI的公司也在努力解决伦理问题，包括苹果、亚马逊、Facebook、IBM和微软，它们与名为“AI伙伴关系”的Google一起组成了一个小组。

Making sure the public is involved in the conversations is important, said Terah Lyons, director of the partnership.

伙伴关系负责人泰拉·里昂表示，确保公众参与对话非常重要。

At an MIT technology conference on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith even welcomed government regulation, saying something  "as fundamentally impactful"  as AI shouldn't be left to developers or the private sector on its own.

在周二麻省理工学院技术会议上，微软总裁布拉德·史密斯甚至欢迎政府监管，称其“具有根本缺陷”的说法，因为AI不应仅由开发商或私人部门自己决定。

Google's Project Maven with the U.S. Defense Department came under fire from company employees concerned about the direction it was taking the company.

谷歌与国防部合作实施的Maven项目遭到公司雇员的抨击，他们担心该公司正在朝着什么方向发展。

A company executive told employees this week the program would not be renewed after it expires at the end of 2019. Google expects to have talks with the Pentagon over how it can fulfil its contract obligations without violating the principles outlined Thursday.

一位公司高管本周告诉雇员，该计划在2019年底到期后不会再延期。谷歌希望与五角大楼商谈如何在不违反周四所述原则的情况下履行其合同义务。

Peter Asaro, vice chairman of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, said this week that Google's backing off from the project was good news because it slows down a potential AI arms race over autonomous weapons systems. What's more, letting the contract expire was fundamental to Google's business model, which relies on gathering mass amounts of user data, he said.

Robot Arms Control国际委员会副主席彼得·阿萨罗本周表示，谷歌从该项目中获得支持是一个好消息，因为它减缓了针对自主武器系统的AI潜在军备竞赛。此外，让合同期满是谷歌的商业模式的根本所在，因为谷歌需要收集大量用户数据。

"They're a company that's very much aware of their image in the public conscious,"  he said.  "They want people to trust them and trust them with their data."

他说：“他们公司非常了解自己在公众意识中的形象，他们希望人们信任他们，并信任他们的数据。”

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O'Brien reported from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

奥布里恩从马萨诸塞州的剑桥报道.