It may not be on the level of the Montagues and the Capulets, or the Sharks and the Jets, but in the world of geeks the rivalry is about as intense as it gets. For decades, two competing “tribes” of artificial intelligence experts have been furiously duelling with each other in research labs and conference halls around the world. But rather than swords or switchblades, they have wielded nothing more threatening than mathematical models and computer code.
也許不是像蒙太古(Montague)和凱普萊特(Capulet)兩大家族(《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中兩位主角所屬的家族——譯者注)那樣水火不容,也不像鯊魚隊(Sharks)和噴氣機隊(Jets)(兩支冰球隊伍——譯者注)那樣針鋒相對,但在極客的世界裏,競爭也是非常激烈的。數十年來,在研究人工智慧的專家圈子中,兩個相互競爭的「部落」一直在世界各地的研究實驗室和會議廳裏激烈交鋒。但他們揮舞的不是刀劍或彈簧刀,應該說,他們沒有比數學模型和電腦代碼更具威脅性的東西了。