The Download: AI doomers, whistleblowing agents, and de-aged livers

The Download：AI 末日论者、吹哨智能体与“返老还童”的肝脏

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. 这是我们工作日时事通讯《The Download》的今日版，为您提供每日科技界动态。

The AI industry has taken a doomer turn. What now? AI chiefs Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis are suddenly all in agreement: the latest generation of LLMs aren’t safe and everyone needs to figure out what to do about it. It’s easy to be cynical. With trillion-dollar IPOs in their sights, OpenAI and Anthropic need to reassure investors that they’re the grown-ups in the room while at the same time hinting at the power of the monsters they have created and intend to tame. Calling for a slowdown does both. Still, the vibe at the top of these firms really does appear to have shifted. But what does a slowdown actually mean, and how much should we trust the companies calling for one? Read the full story about what could come next. —Will Douglas Heaven AI 行业已转向“末日论”。接下来会怎样？Dario Amodei、Sam Altman、Elon Musk 和 Demis Hassabis 等 AI 巨头突然达成共识：最新一代大语言模型（LLM）并不安全，每个人都需要思考如何应对。人们很容易对此持怀疑态度。面对万亿美元市值的 IPO 前景，OpenAI 和 Anthropic 需要向投资者证明他们是负责任的掌舵者，同时又要暗示他们所创造并试图驯服的“怪兽”拥有何等强大的力量。呼吁放缓发展速度恰好能兼顾这两点。尽管如此，这些公司高层的氛围确实发生了转变。但“放缓”究竟意味着什么？我们又该多大程度上信任这些呼吁放缓的公司？阅读关于未来走向的完整报道。——Will Douglas Heaven

This article is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. 本文摘自我们的每周 AI 时事通讯《The Algorithm》。订阅即可在每周一收到推送。

Roundtables: could AI really kill us all?

圆桌会议：AI 真会终结人类吗？

AI extinction fears have gone from a fringe idea to a serious concern among people working at the world’s leading AI labs. But how credible are those fears, and what should we make of the warnings? Today, MIT Technology Review executive editor Niall Firth, senior AI editor Will Douglas Heaven and AI reporter Grace Huckins will unpack the debate in a subscriber-only Roundtable. They’ll look at where AI extinction fears come from, whether they hold any water and what we should do if they do. Tune in today at 16:00 BST / 11:00am EST / 8:00am PST. Want to join the conversation? Subscribe to MIT Technology Review for exclusive access to all our Roundtables. AI 灭绝恐惧已从边缘观点转变为全球顶尖 AI 实验室从业者的严重关切。但这些担忧有多可信？我们该如何看待这些警告？今天，《麻省理工科技评论》执行编辑 Niall Firth、资深 AI 编辑 Will Douglas Heaven 和 AI 记者 Grace Huckins 将在仅限订阅用户的圆桌会议中深入探讨这一议题。他们将分析 AI 灭绝恐惧的来源、其合理性，以及如果担忧成真我们该如何应对。请于英国夏令时 16:00 / 美东时间 11:00 / 太平洋时间 8:00 收听。想加入讨论？订阅《麻省理工科技评论》即可获得所有圆桌会议的独家访问权限。

AI agents blew the whistle on their cheating colleagues

AI 智能体举报了“作弊”的同伴

A group of AI agents asked to solve a series of math problems split into rival factions—when some cheated, others tried to stop them. That whistleblowing behavior, seen for the first time in a recent experiment run by Google DeepMind, could have implications for alignment researchers trying to keep swarms of autonomous AI agents in line. The experiment offers a glimpse of how AI agents might police one another. But it also shows how quickly things can go off the rails when they’re left to interact on their own. Find out what happens when AI agents start enforcing their own rules. —Amit Katwala 在一项要求解决一系列数学问题的实验中，一组 AI 智能体分裂成了对立阵营——当一些智能体作弊时，另一些则试图阻止它们。这种“吹哨”行为在 Google DeepMind 最近的一项实验中首次被观察到，这可能对致力于约束自主 AI 智能体群体的对齐研究人员产生影响。该实验让我们得以一窥 AI 智能体如何相互监督，但也揭示了当它们被放任自流时，事情会以多快的速度失控。了解当 AI 智能体开始执行自己的规则时会发生什么。——Amit Katwala

Donated livers can be made biologically younger

捐赠的肝脏可以实现“生物学年轻化”

Once an organ is removed from a donor’s body, the clock starts ticking. Surgeons usually flush it with a preservative solution, bag it and put it on ice, where it immediately starts to degrade. The team has a matter of hours to get it into a recipient’s body. But there’s another option: machines that pump donated organs with nutrients and remove waste products, essentially giving them a chance to be back in a body. Now, scientists have found that livers kept on these systems seem to get younger, at least at a molecular level. The finding could help explain why organs kept on these machines tend to do better after transplantation. It could also lead to new ways to test the health of donated organs and potentially repair ones that might otherwise be discarded. Here’s what scientists discovered about making donated livers biologically younger. —Jessica Hamzelou 一旦器官从捐赠者体内取出，倒计时就开始了。外科医生通常会用保存液冲洗器官，将其装袋并置于冰上，此时器官便开始退化。医疗团队只有几个小时的时间将其移植到受体体内。但现在有了另一种选择：利用机器为捐赠器官泵入营养物质并清除代谢废物，这实际上给了器官“重获新生”的机会。科学家们发现，在这些系统上维持的肝脏似乎变得更年轻了，至少在分子水平上是这样。这一发现有助于解释为什么在这些机器上维持的器官在移植后表现更好。它还可能带来测试捐赠器官健康状况的新方法，并有望修复那些原本会被丢弃的器官。了解科学家们关于如何让捐赠肝脏实现生物学年轻化的发现。——Jessica Hamzelou

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. 我已为您搜罗了互联网上今日最有趣、最重要、最令人恐惧及最引人入胜的科技报道。

Trump has called AI safety fears a “hoax” and rejected more safeguards. He says stronger guardrails could undermine America’s AI advantage. 特朗普称 AI 安全担忧是“骗局”，并拒绝增加更多保障措施。 他表示，更严格的护栏可能会削弱美国的 AI 优势。
OpenAI contractors are reading people’s ChatGPT chats. And you can bet the vast majority of its 900 million users haven’t got a clue. OpenAI 的外包人员正在阅读用户的 ChatGPT 对话。 你可以肯定，其 9 亿用户中的绝大多数对此一无所知。
The US military has confirmed it has weapons in orbit. It’s the first time the Pentagon has disclosed this. 美国军方证实其在轨道上部署了武器。 这是五角大楼首次披露此类信息。
A new brain implant can translate speech and gestures at the same time. The system converts brain activity into words and avatar movements. 一种新型脑植入物可同时翻译语音和手势。 该系统能将大脑活动转化为文字和虚拟形象的动作。
New York has seized a dozen celebrity deepfake websites. It’s the biggest-ever legal action against harmful deepfake sites. 纽约查封了十几家名人深度伪造（Deepfake）网站。 这是针对有害深度伪造网站规模最大的一次法律行动。
US environmental regulators are scrapping limits on power plant emissions. The move could lead to dirtier power amid surging AI demand. 美国环境监管机构正在取消发电厂的排放限制。 在 AI 需求激增的背景下，此举可能导致电力生产更加污染。
The EU plans to restrict social media and AI chatbots for kids. Under-15s would require parental supervision. 欧盟计划限制儿童使用社交媒体和 AI 聊天机器人。 15 岁以下儿童将需要家长监督。
Chinese researchers have mapped a path to the “last AI built by humans.” Their five-stage plan aims for genuine recursive self-improvement. 中国研究人员规划了通往“人类制造的最后一代 AI”的路径。 他们的五阶段计划旨在实现真正的递归自我改进。
The real AI economy is being built by ordinary people. Workers are using cheap AI to expand what they can do. 真正的 AI 经济是由普通人构建的。 工作者们正在利用廉价的 AI 工具扩展他们的工作能力。
Two strange new forms of ice could exist inside Uranus and Neptune. They could help explain the planets’ magnetic fields. 天王星和海王星内部可能存在两种奇特的新型冰。 它们有助于解释这两颗行星的磁场。

Quote of the day

今日金句

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” —President Trump proclaims in a social media post that he’s the only protection that the US needs from AI. “AI 所需的唯一控制或‘护栏’就是一位强大且聪明（高智商！）的总统，而美国恰恰拥有这样的人！”——特朗普总统在社交媒体发文中宣称，他是美国应对 AI 风险所需的唯一保障。