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.
也许不是像蒙太古(Montague)和凯普莱特(Capulet)两大家族(《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中两位主角所属的家族——译者注)那样水火不容,也不像鲨鱼队(Sharks)和喷气机队(Jets)(两支冰球队伍——译者注)那样针锋相对,但在极客的世界里,竞争也是非常激烈的。数十年来,在研究人工智能的专家圈子中,两个相互竞争的“部落”一直在世界各地的研究实验室和会议厅里激烈交锋。但他们挥舞的不是刀剑或弹簧刀,应该说,他们没有比数学模型和计算机代码更具威胁性的东西了。