人工智能之战（1） | 经济学人
当今关于人工智能的竞争无关人类与机器，而是在世界范围内的科技巨头中展开，这些巨头企业为了在这场竞争中取得领先地位，正狂热地进行投资。
The battle in AI
人工智能之战
Giant advantage
巨大优势
Artificial intelligence looks tailor-made[1] for incumbent[2] tech giants. How to judge if that is a worry.
人工智能看起来专为当下一些科技巨头而生。如何判断这是否会给人们带来烦忧呢？
[1]tailor-made: exactly right or suitable forsomeone or something
完全恰当的，正好适合的
[+ for]
Thejob is tailor-made for you.
这份工作你干正合适。
[+ to]
insurance tailor-made to each client's requirements
根据每个顾客的需求量身定制的保险
[2]incumbent: 在职的
...the only candidate who defeated an incumbent senator.
...惟一击败了现任参议员的候选人。
TWO letters can add up to a lot of money. No area of technology is hotter than AI, or artificial intelligence. Venture-capital investment in AI in the first nine months of 2017 totalled $7.6bn, according to PitchBook, a data provider; that compares with full-year figures of $5.4bn in 2016. In the year to date there have been $21.3bn in AI-related M&A deals, around 26 times more than in 2015. In earnings calls public companies now mention AI far more often than "big data".
A和I这两个字母可以创造大量的财富。AI，或说人工智能，是最热门的科技领域。数据供应商PitchBook显示，2017年前三个季度，AI领域的风险投资总额达76亿美元；而2016年全年同一投资总额才54亿美元。迄今为止，AI相关并购交易额达213亿美元，约是2015年交易额的26倍。如今，上市公司在业绩会议上讨论人工智能的次数远多于讨论“大数据”的次数。
At the heart of the frenzy are some familiar names: the likes of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. A similar, though less transparent, battle is under way in China among firms like Alibaba and Baidu. Several have put AI at the centre of their strategies. All are enthusiastic acquirers of AI firms, often in order to snap up[3] the people they employ.
AI热潮的中心都是一些耳熟能详的名称：如阿法贝（Alphabet）、亚马逊、苹果、脸书（Facebook）和微软等。在中国，类似阿里巴巴、百度等公司之间正暗中酝酿着一场类似的战斗,其中一些公司还把AI摆在战略中心。这些公司全都热衷于收购AI公司，从而争夺员工。
They see AI as a way to improve their existing services, from cloud computing to logistics, and to push into new areas, from autonomous cars to augmented reality (see page 55). Many observers fear that, by cementing and extending the power of a handful of giants, AI will hurt competition. That will depend on three open questions, involving one magic ingredient.
它们认为AI可以改善其现有的服务，如云计算、物流等；还能帮助它们开拓如自动驾驶汽车、增强现实技术等新领域（见55页）。许多观察家担心，AI会增强几个巨头的能力并拓展其能力范围，危及商业竞争。这取决于三个开放性问题，其中一个是关键因素。
[3]snap up: If you snap something up, you buy it quickly because it ischeap or is just what you want. 争购
...amillionaire ready to snap them up at the premium price of $200 a gallon.
...一个百万富翁准备以每加仑$200的高价抢购它们。
AlphaGone
AlphaGone
The tech giants certainly have big advantages in the battle to develop AI. They have tonnes of data, oodles of[4] computing power and boffins[研究员；科学工作者] aplenty—especially in China, which expects to charge ahead. Imagine a future, some warn, in which you are transported everywhere in a Waymo autonomous car (owner: Alphabet, parent of Google), pay for everything with an Android phone (developer: Google), watch YouTube (owner: Google) to relax, and search the web using—you can guess.
在这场研发AI的战斗中，科技巨头确实占有极大的优势。它们拥有海量的数据、计算能力以及科研人员。特别是在预期走在世界前列的中国，科技巨头的优势更加明显。一些人提醒说，想象一下未来，谷歌母公司Alphabet旗下的Waymo自动驾驶汽车搭载你环游四方，你用谷歌发明的安卓手机购买所有物品，在谷歌旗下的YouTube网站上观看视频放松自己，并借助什么来搜索网页，你可以猜猜。
[4]oodles of sth:（informal)a large amount of something 大量某物，许多某物
They've got oodles of money.
他们有很多钱。
Markets with just a handful of firms can be fiercely competitive. A world in which the same few names duke it out[5] in several industries could still be a good one for consumers. But if people rely on one firm's services like this, and if AI enables that firm to predict their needs and customise its offering ever more precisely, it will be burdensome to switch to a rival.
在仅有少数公司的市场中，竞争也可能十分激烈。当今世界，这些公司在某些行业一决高下，这对消费者而言是件好事。然而，如果人们像这样如此依赖某家公司的服务，而AI又使得该公司能预测人们的需求并提供更精确、更符合顾客要求的服务，那么该公司的竞争对手则会面临沉重的负担。
[5]duke it out: 打出高低(或输赢，胜负)，决一雌雄，打个明白
That future is still a long way off. AI programs remain narrowly focused. Moreover, the ability of the incumbents to perpetuate their advantages is made uncertain by three questions.
未来还有很长一段路。AI程序的研究范围依旧不大。更何况，当下一些公司保持自身优势的能力也会因三个问题而漂浮不定。
英文来源：经济雪人
翻译来源：粉丝投稿，仅供参考
【未完待续。。。】