美国国家公共电台 NPR--Microsoft and Google enlist artificial intelligence to heat up search rivalry

Microsoft and Google enlist¹ artificial intelligence to heat up search rivalry²

Transcript³

Microsoft has announced it will use the AI tool known as ChatGPT in its Bing search engine, and Google has unveiled a competitor to ChatGPT — this could profoundly change how we use technology.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As LeBron sets a new record for humans, tech companies are seeking the record for online search. Microsoft yesterday announced a new version of its search engine, Bing, that is powered by artificial intelligence. And Google says it's planning its own AI-powered search to rival Microsoft's. NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn has been having a chance to try out some of this new technology. He's on the line. Bobby, hi.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What exactly is Microsoft doing?

ALLYN: The first thing they're doing, Steve, is mounting a massive challenge to Google's core business. As we all know, if we want to know something online, we Google. Microsoft has its own search engine, Bing. But it's tiny compared to Google. And Microsoft has been waiting in Redmond, Wash., where I am now, for an opportunity to cut into Google's dominance. And they think they found it with artificial intelligence. So they teamed up with San Francisco research lab Open AI. They're the ones behind ChatGPT. You know, it's that tool that generates AI "Seinfeld" scenes, cover letters and has sent teachers into a frenzy⁵ over AI plagiarism⁶. Microsoft has partnered with them to launch the first-ever major search engine using this cutting-edge AI technology.

INSKEEP: OK. I get what artificial intelligence can do in terms of making up statements, words, dialogue. But what difference would it make if I'm doing a search?

ALLYN: So I sat down with Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi. And I asked him that very question, Steve. And he put it this way - if you want to know how long the DMV is open because you need to renew your driver's license⁷, Google it, or if you're unusual, go to Bing and you find out your answer. If you want to know the stock price, you want to know what the weather is, OK, fine. Type it into a search. You get it. But if you want to know something a little bit more complex and specific - like, I'm about to buy a couch that's a very specific size. And I have a car. And I'm wondering if this specific couch will fit in the back of my car. Can you Google that? Not really. So this new, AI-powered search is able to come up with an answer and almost instantaneously tells you whether you can put that couch in your car or not. Here's Mehdi.

YUSUF MEHDI: Search hasn't changed in two decades, pretty much. It's the same thing that we all know, blue links on a page, algorithmic approach. Today starts a new race, with AI at the core. And the idea here is that we can move from just search to search plus answers.

ALLYN: And I tried to find some of those answers myself. I was one of the about a hundred reporters who are able to preview this new AI-powered Bing. And I put in all sorts of queries⁸, including whether a couch, a very specific one, can fit in a very specific car. And sometimes the answers seemed to be pretty precise. Other times, it was kind of confusing. So it's trying to move in that direction, but it definitely needs some work.

INSKEEP: Well, how is Microsoft making sure this doesn't go wrong?

ALLYN: You know, it's a pretty complex answer to this question because, you know, what this tool is using as its core data is data on the internet, right? And as we know, data on the internet is full of toxicity¹⁰, is full of misinformation. So what are they doing? What kind of guardrails have they mounted to make sure that a lot of that stuff isn't replicated¹¹ and amplified¹² in some of these answers? And so I asked Mehdi, you know, what are the sort of guardrails you have in place to make sure Microsoft isn't itself amplifying¹³ some of the most toxic⁹ stuff on the internet? And here's what he told me.

MEHDI: Is this hate speech? Is this violence? Is this self-harm? If it is, we catch it. And then we don't even let it go into the model. So we've done a lot of work on the safety side. So an important part of today is, now we can go to market and try it with real testers, because you can't solve these problems in the lab. You have to get out and see it in the real world.

ALLYN: Right, see it in the real world. But, you know, this new Bing has a pretty small real world, Steve. I mean, the select group of researchers, journalists, academics and others who are able to use it is very small. But Microsoft says many millions will be able to try it out in the coming weeks.

INSKEEP: Well, how's Google responding?

ALLYN: So news of Microsoft debuting¹⁴ this new AI tool definitely has put Google in crisis mode. A team inside of Google in Mountain View under the banner of code red has been tasked with coming up with ways to sort of counter ChatGPT-like tools, like the one that Microsoft is now unveiling. And Google said earlier this week that it has its own tool called Bard¹⁵ that will use AI technology in Google results eventually, similar to what Microsoft is doing, of course. But they are not ready to release that just yet.

INSKEEP: NPR's Bobby Allyn, thanks so much. Happy searching.

ALLYN: You, too. Thanks.

1 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

2 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

6 plagiarism   

n.剽窃，抄袭

参考例句：

• Teachers in America fight to control cheating and plagiarism.美国老师们努力对付欺骗和剽窃的问题。
• Now he's in real trouble.He's accused of plagiarism.现在他是真遇到麻烦了。他被指控剽窃。

7 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

8 queries   

n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问

参考例句：

• Our assistants will be happy to answer your queries. 我们的助理很乐意回答诸位的问题。
• Her queries were rhetorical,and best ignored. 她的质问只不过是说说而已，最好不予理睬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

10 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。

11 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

12 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

13 amplifying   

放大，扩大( amplify的现在分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• Often they use borrowed funds, amplifying their gains and losses. 他们通常会用借贷的资金交易，从而放大收益或损失。
• An amplifying type (or analog) device, as opposed to digital device. 放大器类（或模拟）器件，相对于数字器件而言的。

14 debuting   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• New debuting analog thermostat welding machine, easy to operate. 新登场模拟式调温电焊台，操作简单。
• With the new tablet device that is debuting next week, Apple Inc. 苹果公司的新型平板电脑将于下周发布。

15 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。