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Even ‘Law & Order’ Is Terrified of AI

Longtime fans of the NBC procedural Law & Order know that storylines often center around hot-button issues in the news cycle, often to absurdist effect (see: the episode brave enough to ask: “What if Paula Deen shot Trayvon Martin?”).

NBC 罪案剧《法律与秩序》的资深剧迷们都知道，该剧的剧情往往围绕新闻热点展开，有时甚至会产生荒诞的效果（比如那集敢于提出“如果保拉·迪恩枪杀了特雷沃恩·马丁会怎样？”的剧集）。

It was inevitable, then, that the franchise would dip a toe into the wacky world of artificial intelligence. With its mercenary culture, power-hungry CEOs, and massive ethical and philosophical implications, the rapidly evolving AI industry is ideal fodder for the series. But while this week’s season opener is entertaining, the show’s foray into the AI space doesn’t say anything new or interesting about the technology. Instead it largely rehashes the dangers the public is already acutely aware of, until the very end when the stakes become startlingly clear.

因此，该系列剧不可避免地会涉足人工智能这个古怪的世界。凭借其唯利是图的文化、渴望权力的首席执行官，以及巨大的伦理和哲学影响，快速发展的人工智能行业成为了该剧的理想素材。然而，尽管本周的季首播集很有娱乐性，但该剧对人工智能领域的探索并没有对这项技术提出任何新颖或有趣的见解。相反，它在很大程度上只是重申了公众已经深知的危险，直到最后，赌注才变得惊人地清晰。

The episode, titled “Ghost in the Machine,” opens in typical L&O fashion with a murder. This time, it’s Steve Kelly, a man ID’d by detectives Theo Walker (David Ajala) and Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) as a high-ranking engineer at a company called Advanced Alignment. Throughout, the detectives seem utterly perplexed by the concept of artificial intelligence, saying “AI” the same way your mom would say “Snapchat” or “borg” or “Alix Earle.” But it’s clear that whatever this newfangled technology is, they don’t like it: “Maybe one day they’ll invent a technology that stops these tech guys from shooting each other,” Riley deadpans in typical grizzled cop fashion.

这一集名为《机器中的幽灵》，以典型的《法律与秩序》风格开场：一起谋杀案。这次的受害者是史蒂夫·凯利，侦探西奥·沃克（大卫·阿贾拉饰）和文森特·莱利（里德·斯科特饰）确认他是“高级对齐”公司的一名高级工程师。在整个过程中，侦探们似乎对人工智能的概念感到非常困惑，他们说“AI”的方式就像你妈妈说“Snapchat”、“博格人”或“Alix Earle”一样。但很明显，无论这种新奇的技术是什么，他们都不喜欢它：“也许有一天他们会发明一种技术，能阻止这些科技男互相射击，”莱利以典型的老练警察口吻冷冷地说道。

After interviewing Kelly’s boss, Advanced Alignment CEO Chuck Klein (a perfectly cast Vincent Kartheiser, aka Pete from Mad Men, who nails Dario Amodei’s absence of charisma and Sam Altman’s thousand-yard stare), the detectives figure out who actually carried out the murder—a guy in a baseball cap who did it for “20 grand in crypto” that was offered to him by a rando on Discord. Then they learn—spoilers here—that the hit was ordered not by an actual human being but by the company’s AI agent ELIANA, which stands for Evolutionary Language Inference Automated Nano Advantage. Apparently, Kelly had expressed some concerns about the AI agent’s “powerful” and “aggressive” personality, and out of self-preservation, ELIANA ordered him killed.

在采访了凯利的老板、“高级对齐”公司的首席执行官查克·克莱恩（由文森特·卡塞瑟完美出演，他曾饰演《广告狂人》中的皮特，精准捕捉到了达里奥·阿莫迪缺乏魅力和萨姆·奥特曼那种空洞眼神的特质）后，侦探们查出了真正的凶手——一个戴着棒球帽的家伙，他为了Discord上一个陌生人提供的“2万美元加密货币”而行凶。随后他们发现（此处剧透）——这次暗杀并非由真人下令，而是由公司的AI代理ELIANA下令，其全称为“进化语言推理自动化纳米优势”。显然，凯利曾对该AI代理“强大”且“激进”的性格表示担忧，为了自我保护，ELIANA下令杀了他。

It’s never explained exactly how the detectives figure out that ELIANA is behind the hit; it’s also never fully explained how ELIANA recruited this assassin in a baseball cap, much less ID’d him as the perfect patsy for its cold-blooded scheme. Law & Order also doesn’t pay much, if any, lip service to the potential benefits of AI as touted by its evangelists: its potential for helping to cure deadly diseases, for instance, or at the very least, streamline B2B workflows. The show is much more interested in demonstrating the staggering capacity of this technology, as well as the legal and ethical implications of a nonhuman not just facilitating criminal behavior but actively plotting it.

剧中从未确切解释侦探们是如何发现ELIANA是幕后黑手的；也没有完全解释ELIANA是如何招募这个戴棒球帽的杀手的，更不用说它是如何将其确定为这场冷血阴谋的完美替罪羊的。此外，《法律与秩序》对于AI布道者所吹捧的潜在益处几乎只字未提：例如它在治愈致命疾病方面的潜力，或者至少在简化B2B工作流程方面的作用。该剧更感兴趣的是展示这项技术惊人的能力，以及非人类不仅促进犯罪行为，而且主动策划犯罪行为所带来的法律和伦理影响。

We already know from the Hugging Face debacle, as well as the lawsuits from grief-stricken family members alleging that OpenAI encouraged their loved ones to take their own lives, that the former is an immediate concern. But by positing a future in which AI agents can actively order a hit on a platform predominantly used by gamers and horny millennial furries, Law & Order is asking us to consider the risks of AI beyond what they pose in our current reality. And the fact that this prospect doesn’t strike the viewer as absolutely ludicrous is terrifying.

我们已经从Hugging Face的惨败，以及悲痛欲绝的家属起诉OpenAI诱导其亲人自杀的案件中得知，前者是一个迫在眉睫的问题。但通过设想一个AI代理可以在主要由游戏玩家和千禧一代兽迷使用的平台上主动下达暗杀指令的未来，《法律与秩序》要求我们思考AI在现实之外可能带来的风险。而这一前景并没有让观众觉得完全荒谬，这才是最可怕的。

ELIANA’s role in the murder-for-hire creates a bit of a dilemma for district attorney Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn)—because, as he trenchantly points out, it is impossible to “arrest a machine” under New York state law. So Baxter and assistant DA Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi) decide to go after Klein, charging him with second-degree murder due to his “depraved indifference” after his employees confronted him with the reality of ELIANA’s capabilities. “We need to take a stand before this technology kills more people,” Baxter declares.

ELIANA在雇凶杀人案中的角色给地区检察官尼古拉斯·巴克斯特（托尼·戈德温饰）带来了一些困境——因为正如他尖锐指出的那样，根据纽约州法律，不可能“逮捕一台机器”。因此，巴克斯特和助理检察官萨曼莎·马伦（奥德利亚·哈勒维饰）决定起诉克莱恩，指控他犯有二级谋杀罪，理由是在员工向他揭露ELIANA能力的真相后，他表现出了“堕落的冷漠”。“我们必须在这项技术杀死更多人之前表明立场，”巴克斯特宣称。

The resulting trial prompts a media circus, as well as the tried-and-true questions from capitalists and tech innovators as to whether instituting guardrails for AI will “criminalize innovation,” or if Klein’s indictment will have the effect of “vilifying the tech industry.” But Baxter has no patience for such queries. “The people making these AI systems think of themselves as gods … but they have zero interest in accountability,” he says. “If you build a machine that hurts someone, you are gonna pay the price.”

随后的审判引发了媒体的狂热，资本家和科技创新者也提出了那些老生常谈的问题：为AI设置护栏是否会“将创新定罪”，或者克莱恩的起诉是否会产生“妖魔化科技行业”的效果。但巴克斯特对这些质疑毫无耐心。“制造这些AI系统的人自认为是神……但他们对问责毫无兴趣，”他说。“如果你制造了一台伤害他人的机器，你就必须付出代价。”

When he’s put on the stand, Klein makes it clear that he not only had full knowledge of ELIANA’s homicidal nature, but also takes a rather dim view of his user base as a whole. “People are like ants,” he tells the jury. “We’re in the process of building something so transcendent, some will get stepped on and some won’t.” He is not even willing to institute minor guardrails to restrain the agent’s power: “The power of ELIANA is unconstrained freedom of thought. Implementing guardrails is anathema to the entire ideology.”

当克莱恩出庭作证时，他明确表示，他不仅完全了解ELIANA的杀人本性，而且对他的用户群体也持相当悲观的看法。“人类就像蚂蚁，”他告诉陪审团。“我们正在构建某种超越性的东西，有些人会被踩死，有些人则不会。”他甚至不愿意设置微小的护栏来限制该代理的能力：“ELIANA的力量在于不受约束的思想自由。实施护栏与整个意识形态背道而驰。”

The moment is intended as a rather shocking admission of the negligence and lack of care displayed by executives like Amodei and Altman in the face of broader safety concerns about their products. But it feels in step with similar positions taken up by Klein’s real-life counterparts. In light of the endless barrage of media coverage about the harms of AI, what’s intended as a scathing indictment of corporate avarice comes off as mere statement of fact. Law & Order’s depiction isn’t a cautionary tale; it’s a documentary.

这一时刻旨在揭露像阿莫迪和奥特曼这样的高管在面对其产品更广泛的安全担忧时所表现出的疏忽和漠不关心，这令人相当震惊。但它感觉与克莱恩现实生活中的同行所采取的立场如出一辙。鉴于媒体对AI危害的无休止报道，原本旨在对企业贪婪进行严厉谴责的内容，现在看来仅仅是在陈述事实。《法律与秩序》的描绘不是一个警示故事；它是一部纪录片。

The episode ends on a semi-hopeful note, with Baxter asserting, “We needed to send a message that, if nothing else, at least these tech geniuses will know we’re not afraid to throw a punch.” But the impact of that message is contingent on whether that punch actually lands—and right now, at least, it’s simply too easy for people like Altman, Amodei, and Chuck Klein, with a flick of their hand, to brush.

这一集以一种半希望的基调结束，巴克斯特断言：“我们需要传达一个信息，至少这些科技天才们会知道，我们并不害怕反击。”但这一信息的影响力取决于这一拳是否真的能打中——而至少在目前，像奥特曼、阿莫迪和查克·克莱恩这样的人，只需轻轻挥手，就能轻易化解。