OpenAI keeps bulldozing mathematicians
OpenAI keeps bulldozing mathematicians
OpenAI 继续在数学界“横冲直撞”
The Verge spoke to one of the mathematicians advising OpenAI as the field braces for a new wave of results that could upend their work. 《The Verge》采访了一位为 OpenAI 提供咨询的数学家，此时数学界正严阵以待，准备迎接可能颠覆其研究工作的新一波成果。
In a chaotic few months, OpenAI has demonstrated it can do two things with remarkable consistency: make impressive breakthroughs in mathematics, then colossally screw up announcing them. OpenAI is now trying to do better. Somehow, it has botched that too. 在过去几个月的混乱中，OpenAI 展现出两件极其“稳定”的事情：在数学领域取得令人瞩目的突破，然后又在发布这些成果时搞得一团糟。OpenAI 现在试图做得更好，但不知何故，它又把这件事搞砸了。
OpenAI’s latest attempt to repair fractured relations with a mathematical community it has repeatedly alienated is to consult a new independent advisory group of elite practitioners. But mathematicians speaking to The Verge, including one of the group’s members, describe a messy and confusing affair bearing many of the hallmarks of OpenAI’s previous rushed forays into mathematics, suggesting the company has learned little from its mistakes. OpenAI 最近试图修复与数学界破裂的关系——此前它已多次疏远该群体——其手段是咨询一个新的由精英从业者组成的独立顾问小组。然而，接受《The Verge》采访的数学家们（包括该小组成员之一）形容这是一场混乱且令人困惑的闹剧，带有 OpenAI 此前在数学领域仓促行事时的许多典型特征，这表明该公司几乎没有从错误中吸取教训。
And then there’s the daunting task the group has been handed first: helping coordinate the release of scores more results OpenAI says its unreleased model has produced, the prospect of which is already stirring dread among researchers over what this looming tidal wave of breakthroughs could do to their field. 此外，该小组面临的首项艰巨任务是：协助协调发布 OpenAI 声称其未发布模型所产生的数十项新成果。这一前景已经在研究人员中引发了恐慌，他们担心这股即将到来的突破浪潮会对他们的领域造成何种冲击。
“The way they phrased their announcement didn’t really help.” “他们宣布消息时的措辞并没有起到什么帮助。”
On September 21st, an assortment of eminent mathematicians announced the formation of the Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (AGMAI) in a guest post on the blog of UCLA mathematics professor Terence Tao, a Fields Medalist and outspoken critic of AI companies’ conduct in mathematics. The group was to be an independent body of nine elite mathematicians at the very top of their field. 9 月 21 日，多位杰出数学家在加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）数学教授、菲尔兹奖得主兼 AI 公司数学行为直言不讳的批评者陶哲轩（Terence Tao）的博客上发表客座文章，宣布成立“数学与人工智能顾问小组”（AGMAI）。该小组由九位处于领域顶尖水平的精英数学家组成，旨在成为一个独立机构。
The post said the group will operate independently from OpenAI and advise it and other frontier AI labs “on the review and communication of emerging results.” In its own announcement, OpenAI repeatedly stressed the group’s independence, saying members would be free to challenge the company publicly, publish their advice, and offer guidance it had not requested. It also stressed the limits of the group’s influence, noting that it “will not be responsible for advising us on how to pace our internal progress on mathematics.” 文章称，该小组将独立于 OpenAI 运作，并就“新兴成果的审查与交流”向 OpenAI 及其他前沿 AI 实验室提供建议。OpenAI 在自己的公告中反复强调了该小组的独立性，称成员可以自由地公开挑战公司、发布建议，并提供公司未曾要求的指导。它还强调了该小组影响力的局限性，指出该小组“不负责就我们内部数学研究的进度安排提供建议”。
The result was widespread confusion over whether AGMAI was truly independent or if it was, as several mathematicians The Verge spoke to in the days after the announcement assumed, some kind of OpenAI-appointed body. That impression wasn’t entirely unreasonable, given AGMAI’s website says it formed after OpenAI approached some of its eventual members about establishing an advisory board, before they decided to strike out independently and invite others to join. It remains unclear which of the nine members OpenAI initially approached. 结果导致外界普遍困惑：AGMAI 究竟是真正独立的，还是像《The Verge》在公告发布后采访的几位数学家所猜测的那样，是某种由 OpenAI 指定的机构？这种印象并非完全没有道理，因为 AGMAI 的网站显示，该小组是在 OpenAI 接洽了部分最终成员以建立顾问委员会后形成的，随后这些成员决定独立行动并邀请其他人加入。目前尚不清楚 OpenAI 最初接洽的是九名成员中的哪几位。
Speaking to The Verge on a video call from a lecture theater, Martin Hairer, an AGMAI member and mathematics professor at Imperial College London and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), was keen to stress the group’s independence from OpenAI. While acknowledging that OpenAI approaching some mathematicians was the original impetus for its formation, he said the group receives no financial, technical, or other support from the company, and that none of its members have signed agreements restricting what they can say or do beyond standard confidentiality requirements needed to give them advanced access to research. 在从一间阶梯教室打来的视频电话中，AGMAI 成员、伦敦帝国理工学院及洛桑联邦理工学院（EPFL）数学教授马丁·海尔（Martin Hairer）极力强调该小组独立于 OpenAI。虽然他承认 OpenAI 接洽部分数学家是该小组成立的最初动因，但他表示，该小组没有从该公司获得任何财务、技术或其他支持，且没有任何成员签署过限制其言行的协议，除了为获得研究预先访问权限所需的标准保密要求外。
It’s clearly been a hectic time for Hairer, who described the preceding few days as a “very frustrating” and “intense” experience. “We don’t work for OpenAI, are not paid by them, and it’s totally independent,” he said. Hairer said the group is equally open to working with other frontier AI labs and had already begun conversations with some, though he declined to say which. 对于海尔来说，这显然是一段忙乱的时期，他形容过去几天是“非常令人沮丧”且“紧张”的经历。“我们不为 OpenAI 工作，也不拿他们的钱，我们是完全独立的，”他说。海尔表示，该小组同样愿意与其他前沿 AI 实验室合作，并且已经开始与其中一些实验室进行对话，但他拒绝透露具体是哪些实验室。
Nevertheless, Hairer seemed exasperated by the way OpenAI had announced the relationship. In a blog post published amid the ensuing uproar, Hairer acknowledged it would be naive to think AI companies wouldn’t try to spin the group’s involvement to their advantage. Given the group had emerged partly in light of OpenAI’s atrocious handling of previous mathematical breakthroughs, that risk was front and center. OpenAI’s solution to a prestigious Millennium Prize problem rapidly descended into fights over credit, scooping, and its treatment of mathematicians, so the community was naturally suspicious. 尽管如此，海尔似乎对 OpenAI 公布这种关系的方式感到恼火。在随后的舆论风波中，海尔在一篇博客文章中承认，如果认为 AI 公司不会试图利用该小组的参与来为自己谋利，那就太天真了。鉴于该小组的成立部分是因为 OpenAI 此前在处理数学突破时的糟糕表现，这种风险显得尤为突出。OpenAI 对一个著名的千禧年大奖难题的解决方案迅速演变成关于功劳归属、抢发成果以及对待数学家方式的争论，因此数学界自然对此持怀疑态度。
Hairer acknowledged that OpenAI’s announcement had done little to help the fledgling group establish its independence. AGMAI needs to win the trust of mathematicians in order to help them navigate an increasingly fraught relationship with AI companies. “The way they phrased their announcement didn’t really help,” Hairer said. “If you read it exactly in detail, there’s nothing wrong in what they say,” he said, noting that the company is “careful” in its wording. “They obviously are very good PR people,” he said, laughing. 海尔承认，OpenAI 的公告对于帮助这个刚成立的小组建立独立性几乎没有起到任何作用。AGMAI 需要赢得数学家的信任，才能帮助他们应对与 AI 公司之间日益紧张的关系。“他们宣布消息时的措辞并没有起到什么帮助，”海尔说。“如果你仔细阅读细节，他们说的话并没有什么错，”他指出该公司在措辞上很“谨慎”。“他们显然是非常优秀的公关人员，”他笑着说。