The Download: the next big thing in LLMs and how AI academic research is shifting

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The Download: The Next Big Thing in LLMs and How AI Academic Research Is Shifting

《下载》：大语言模型（LLM）的下一个风口与人工智能学术研究的转型

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. 这是《下载》今日版，我们平日的通讯，为您提供每日科技界动态。

These startups are chasing the next big thing in LLMs

这些初创公司正在追逐大语言模型（LLM）的下一个风口

Nine years after Google researchers introduced the transformer, this family of neural networks has become the engine inside every major large language model. But transformers are starting to show their age. As LLMs get bigger and better, transformers have become a bottleneck. Their dense attention mechanism becomes increasingly expensive as the amount of text grows, and they’re not great at keeping track of a lot of information at once. Here are four new ideas for how to solve the transformer problem—innovations that could change LLMs for good, making them faster, far more efficient, and (maybe) even smarter. —Will Douglas Heaven 在谷歌研究人员引入 Transformer 架构九年后，这一神经网络家族已成为每个主流大语言模型的引擎。但 Transformer 开始显露疲态。随着大语言模型变得越来越大、越来越强，Transformer 反而成了瓶颈。随着文本量的增加，其密集注意力机制的成本变得越来越高，且它们在同时处理大量信息方面表现并不理想。以下是解决 Transformer 问题的四种新思路——这些创新可能会彻底改变大语言模型，使其运行速度更快、效率更高，甚至（可能）更聪明。——Will Douglas Heaven

This story is from MIT Technology Review’s What’s Next series, which looks across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here. 本文选自《麻省理工科技评论》的“What’s Next”系列，该系列纵览各行业、趋势和技术，带您抢先一窥未来。您可以在此处阅读该系列的其他文章。

AI professors are negotiating the new realities of academic research

人工智能教授们正在适应学术研究的新现实

—Grace Huckins —Grace Huckins

Last week, I headed to a hotel in Mountain View, California, to join some of the most accomplished, and some of the most promising, AI researchers in the world. I was hosting roundtable interviews and speaking at a media training for a convening of the Schmidt Sciences AI2050 program, an initiative funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that supports academics whose work involves AI. The fellows list is a who’s who of AI luminaries, and though not all of them made it out to the Bay, every time I turned a corner I saw a scientist whom I’d interviewed previously or whose research I admired. It’s a weird time for university AI researchers, who make up most of the AI2050 group. Read Grace’s story to find out why, and what could be coming next. 上周，我前往加利福尼亚州山景城的一家酒店，与世界上一些最有成就、也最有前途的人工智能研究人员会面。我主持了圆桌采访，并在 Schmidt Sciences AI2050 项目的会议上进行了媒体培训发言。该项目由埃里克·施密特（Eric Schmidt）和温迪·施密特（Wendy Schmidt）资助，旨在支持从事人工智能相关工作的学者。研究员名单汇集了人工智能领域的杰出人物，虽然并非所有人都来到了湾区，但我每转过一个弯，都能看到我曾采访过或其研究令我钦佩的科学家。对于构成 AI2050 团体大部分成员的大学人工智能研究人员来说，这是一个奇怪的时期。阅读 Grace 的文章，了解原因以及未来可能发生的事情。

This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. 本文选自我们的每周人工智能通讯《算法》（The Algorithm）。订阅即可在每周一收到邮件。

The must-reads

必读内容

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 我梳理了互联网，为您找出了今天关于科技最有趣、最重要、最令人担忧和最引人入胜的故事。

  1. Nvidia has secured $500 billion from Wall Street for AI infrastructure It’s struck deals with BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and four others. (BBC)

    • Showing the pull of AI compute for institutional investors. (Reuters)
    • And that AI infrastructure is becoming a new asset class. (CNBC) 英伟达从华尔街获得了 5000 亿美元用于人工智能基础设施建设 该公司已与贝莱德（BlackRock）、高盛（Goldman Sachs）及其他四家机构达成协议。（BBC）
    • 显示了人工智能算力对机构投资者的吸引力。（路透社）
    • 人工智能基础设施正在成为一种新的资产类别。（CNBC）

  2. Mark Zuckerberg’s new manifesto says open-source AI can save the US It presents a utopian vision of personalized “superintelligence.” (Guardian)

    • And arrived the same day as Meta’s new, open-source model. (NYT)
    • Zuckerberg said he plans to launch more of these models. (WSJ)
    • And pit Meta against Chinese open-weight developers. (SCMP) 马克·扎克伯格的新宣言称开源人工智能可以拯救美国 它提出了个性化“超级智能”的乌托邦愿景。（卫报）
    • 该宣言发布当天，Meta 也推出了新的开源模型。（纽约时报）
    • 扎克伯格表示计划推出更多此类模型。（华尔街日报）
    • 这将使 Meta 与中国的开源权重开发者展开竞争。（南华早报）

  3. Bernie Sanders has called on Silicon Valley to “pause AI development” He noted that AI giants have pledged to do this if necessary for safety.

    • And warned that lawmakers will step in if no action is taken. (Guardian)
    • House Democrats are already pressing AI leaders over rogue models. (WP)
    • A populist backlash is building against AI. (MIT Technology Review) 伯尼·桑德斯呼吁硅谷“暂停人工智能开发” 他指出，人工智能巨头已承诺，如果出于安全考虑有必要，他们会这样做。
    • 并警告称，如果不采取行动，立法者将介入。（卫报）
    • 众议院民主党人已经在就“流氓模型”向人工智能领导者施压。（华盛顿邮报）
    • 针对人工智能的民粹主义反弹正在形成。（麻省理工科技评论）

  4. A US court will allow thousands of social media lawsuits to proceed The suits target addictive mechanisms used by Meta, TikTok, Google, and Snapchat. (Axios)

    • They claim the platforms are designed to hook young users. (Reuters)
    • Can we repair the internet? (MIT Technology Review) 美国法院将允许数千起社交媒体诉讼继续进行 这些诉讼针对的是 Meta、TikTok、谷歌和 Snapchat 使用的成瘾机制。（Axios）
    • 他们声称这些平台的设计旨在吸引年轻用户。（路透社）
    • 我们能修复互联网吗？（麻省理工科技评论）

  5. Unitree’s IPO is more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail The Chinese humanoid firm raised $900 million ahead of its listing. (Reuters)

    • Its pricing for the Shanghai IPO values the company at $9 billion. (FT) 宇树科技（Unitree）的 IPO 散户认购超额 8000 倍 这家中国人形机器人公司在上市前筹集了 9 亿美元。（路透社）
    • 其上海 IPO 的定价使公司估值达到 90 亿美元。（金融时报）

  6. Flock’s car-tracking cameras are facing a bipartisan backlash The surveillance network has spread rapidly across the US. (NYT)

    • Flock also plans to chase shoplifters with drones. (MIT Technology Review) Flock 的车辆追踪摄像头正面临两党反弹 该监控网络已在美国迅速蔓延。（纽约时报）
    • Flock 还计划用无人机追捕商店扒手。（麻省理工科技评论）

  7. China is breaking up AI relationships Beijing has introduced new rules for emotionally interactive AI. (Rest of World)

    • It’s surprisingly easy to fall for a chatbot. (MIT Technology Review) 中国正在切断人工智能关系 北京出台了针对情感交互式人工智能的新规。（Rest of World）
    • 爱上聊天机器人出奇地容易。（麻省理工科技评论）

  8. An AI tool claims to pick the best 1% of scientific papers But researchers doubt that AI can reliably judge scientific quality. (Nature) 一款人工智能工具声称能挑选出前 1% 的科学论文 但研究人员怀疑人工智能能否可靠地判断科学质量。（自然）

  9. The AI slop backlash is working It’s pushing platforms to restrict AI-generated content. (Wired) 针对人工智能“垃圾内容”（AI slop）的反弹正在奏效 它正在推动平台限制人工智能生成的内容。（连线）

  10. An 82-year-old rejected $26 million to turn her farm into a data center She criticised the environmental impacts of data centers. (Fortune) 一位 82 岁的老人拒绝了 2600 万美元的报价，不愿将农场改建成数据中心 她批评了数据中心对环境的影响。（财富）

Quote of the day

今日名言

“It is not too late to avoid disaster. Stop building machines that humans cannot control.” —Senator Bernie Sanders urges Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Mark Zuckerberg to pause all AI development in a letter. “现在避免灾难还为时不晚。停止制造人类无法控制的机器。” ——参议员伯尼·桑德斯在致 Sam Altman、Dario Amodei 和马克·扎克伯格的信中敦促他们暂停所有人工智能开发。

One More Thing

还有一件事

The race to make the perfect baby is creating an ethical mess 制造“完美婴儿”的竞赛正在制造一场伦理混乱

A new field of science is using genetic sequencing to predict what kind of person an embryo might become. Some parents turn to these tests to avoid devastating genetic disorders, while a much smaller group are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to optimize for intelligence, appearance, and personality. Customers, however, may not be getting what they’re paying for. Genetics experts have highlighted the potential deficiencies of this testing for years, while its underlying assumptions have made these companies a political lightning rod. As this technology edges toward the mainstream, scientists and ethicists are racing to confront the implications—for our social contract, for future generations, and for our very understanding of what it means to be human. Read the full story. —Julia Black 一门新的科学领域正在利用基因测序来预测胚胎未来可能成为什么样的人。一些父母求助于这些测试是为了避免毁灭性的遗传疾病，而极少数人则愿意支付数万美元来优化智力、外貌和性格。然而，客户可能并没有得到他们所支付的东西。遗传学专家多年来一直强调这种测试的潜在缺陷，而其基本假设也使这些公司成为了政治争议的焦点。随着这项技术逐渐走向主流，科学家和伦理学家正竞相面对其带来的影响——对我们的社会契约、对子孙后代，以及对我们关于“人之所以为人”的根本理解。阅读全文。——Julia Black

We can still have nice things

我们依然可以拥有美好事物

A place for comfort, fun, and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line.) 一个为您提供舒适、乐趣和消遣，点亮您一天的地方。（有什么想法吗？给我写信。）

  • An eagle-eyed border collie is taking the game of fetch into new waters.
  • 一只目光敏锐的边境牧羊犬正在将“捡球游戏”带入新的领域。
  • musicForprogramming has made a valiant attempt to produce the perfect tunes for sustained concentration.
  • musicForprogramming 勇敢地尝试制作出适合持续专注的完美曲目。
  • When kids design playgrounds, they create a cheerful mix of giant chess, pink basketball courts—and lava.
  • 当孩子们设计游乐场时，他们创造了一个由巨型象棋、粉色篮球场和“熔岩”组成的欢乐组合。
  • This power metal version of the “Back to the Future” music is an epic reinvention of the film’s classic theme.
  • 这个力量金属版本的《回到未来》音乐是对电影经典主题曲的史诗级重塑。
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