The disruptive impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, law enforcement or healthcare could be enormous.

人工智能可能给职业、执法或医疗带来巨大的颠覆性影响。

It raises concerns among politicians, regulators and society that the technology industry needs to address intelligently and flexibly.

这已经引发了政界人士、监管者及社会的担忧，科技行业需要灵活巧妙地解决这些担忧。

Too often, however, the industry sees these intrusions as a threat to be brushed aside.

然而，更常见的情况是，科技行业将这些干预视为威胁而置之不理。

It should not.

这是不应该的。

US technology groups, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM, have set up a non-profit body to work out how society could harness intelligent machines to its benefit, while keeping the risks in check.

谷歌(Google)、Facebook、微软(Microsoft)、亚马逊(Amazon)及IBM五大美国科技集团成立了一家非盈利机构，以解决社会如何利用智能机器的好处、同时又保持风险可控的问题。

Grandly titled as the Partnership on artificial intelligence to benefit people and society, it promises to conduct research into questions that surround artificial intelligence, such as ethics, and develop ways to make the technology more understandable.

被冠以人工智能造福人类和社会合作组织(Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society)之名，该机构承诺对围绕人工智能的问题进行研究，例如道德伦理以及寻找方法让技术更易于被理解。

One does not have to be a believer in some dystopian future to recognise the benefits of such research.

就算你不是反乌托邦主义者也会认识到此类研究的好处。

The landscape is dotted with signs of what happens when clever algorithms are left to their own devices, from the self-driving Tesla car that crashed to Microsoft’s out-of-control chatbot on Twitter.

我们已经多次看到当人们让聪明的算法自己操控设备时会发生什么——从特斯拉(Tesla)自动驾驶汽车撞毁，到微软聊天机器人在Twitter上失控。

A recent study found that 60 per cent of those surveyed think that intelligent machines would lead to fewer jobs within a decade.

最近的一项研究发现，60%的受访者认为，智能机器将在10年内导致工作岗位减少。

The industry is fast overcoming the technical obstacles around artificial intelligence.

科技业正在迅速克服人工智能领域的技术障碍。

Technology experts in a report argued that our lives will soon be shaped by machine-learning algorithms.

技术专家们在一份报告中称，不久以后，我们的生活将被机器学习算法所改变。

Rather than superhuman robots, we should expect more precise health diagnostics and predictive regulating.

我们应该期待的是更精准的医疗诊断和预测性监管，而非超人机器人。

These changes can have profound positive impacts, experts say, but can also lead to disruptions in how human labour is augmented or replaced.

专家表示，这些变化可能将带来深远、积极的影响，但也可能导致人类劳动力获得补充或被取代的方式出现混乱。

The pace of new developments and their direction therefore highlight the urgency to respond to public concerns.

因此，人工智能新进展的速度和方向凸显了回应公众担忧的紧迫性。

What is less clear is that the right entity to regulate the direction of development is an industry body.

不太确定的一点是，一个行业组织是否是监管人工智能发展方向的合适实体。

True, tech companies have a deep understanding of the scope of artificial intelligence and its pace.

没错，科技公司对人工智能的发展空间及速度有更深入的理解。

But it would be naive to think that those with a direct stake in the technology can be immune from commercial interests or from the gung-ho enthusiasm of their research teams.

但认为那些与这一技术有直接利害关系的公司能够不受商业利益或研究团队的狂热影响的想法也是天真的。

The tech industry likes to regard itself as the future, with governments and rival industries mired in the past.

科技业喜欢把自身视作未来，而政府和对手行业代表着守旧。

They are, with justification, worried that misinformed regulation would slow down investment in start-ups that focus on artificial intelligence.

他们有理由担心，错误的监管将阻碍对人工智能初创企业的投资。

But turning their back on policymakers is not an option.

但对政策制定者不理不睬并不是一种选择。

Clearly, public opinion demands external oversight of new developments.

显然，公众舆论要求对这些新进展进行外部监督。

In its absence, an industry-led regulator would only fuel a perception that tech titans are devising the rules that would suit their own interests.

在缺乏外部监督的情况下，行业牵头的监管机构只会让人们更加相信，科技巨头们正在制定符合自身利益的规则。

There are examples of groups that have successfully bridged the divide between those in technology and government.

已经有一些组织成功弥合了科技公司与政府之间分歧的例子。

The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for instance has dealt with the ethical dilemmas raised by an emerging technology.

例如，英国的人类生育和胚胎学管理局(Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority)负责处理相关新兴技术带来的道德困境。

What artificial intelligence needs is a similar but independent public-private partnership that could not only address concerns but also allow policymakers to start preparing for the future.

人工智能领域需要的是一个类似但独立的公私合作组织，这样不仅可以化解担忧，还可以让政策制定者开始为未来做好准备。

Artificial intelligence opens up immense possibilities.

人工智能开启了无限的可能性。

If we want to share the benefits the technology brings to society, it is too important for politicians to hold it back.

如果我们要分享这项技术给社会带来的好处，由政治家来对它加以控制非常重要。

The tech industry has a critical role to play but, for it to be effective, it should work with government rather than against it.

科技业可以发挥关键作用，但要收到实效，行业应该与政府合作，而非对抗。