2023年经济学人 ChatGPT与乔姆斯基: 人类如何习得语言(1)

 

    Culture

    文艺版块

    Johnson

    约翰逊专栏

    The language instinct

    语言本能

    ChatGPT's way with words raises questions about how humans acquire language.

    ChatGPT运用语言的方式引发了关于人类如何习得语言的疑问。

    When deep blue, a chess computer, defeated Garry Kasparov, a world champion, in 1997 many gasped¹ in fear of machines triumphing over mankind.

    1997年，当国际象棋计算机深蓝击败世界冠军加里·卡斯帕罗夫时，许多人因害怕机器战胜人类而发出惊呼。

    In the intervening years, artificial intelligence has done some astonishing things, but none has managed to capture the public imagination in quite the same way.

    在这些年间，人工智能完成了一些惊人之举，但都没能像深蓝那样激发公众的想象。

    Now, though, the astonishment² of the Deep Blue moment is back, because computers are employing something that humans consider their defining ability: language.

    但现在深蓝时刻带来的惊喜又回来了，因为计算机正在运用一种被人类视为是定义了其本质的能力：语言。

    Or are they?

    真是这样吗？

    Certainly, large language models (LLMs), of which the most famous is ChatGPT, produce what looks like impeccable human writing.

    当然，大型语言模型，其中最著名的是ChatGPT，可以生成看起来无懈可击的人类文字作品。

    But a debate has ensued about what the machines are actually doing internally, what it is that humans, in turn, do when they speak--and, inside the academy, about the theories of the world's most famous linguist³, Noam Chomsky.

    但紧接着出现了一场辩论：机器内部究竟发生了什么？人类在说话时又发生了什么？在学术界，学者们也在就世界上最著名的语言学家诺姆·乔姆斯基的理论展开讨论。

    Although Professor Chomsky's ideas have changed considerably⁴ since he rose to prominence⁵ in the 1950s, several elements have remained fairly constant.

    虽然乔姆斯基教授自20世纪50年代崭露头角以来，他的思想已经发生了很大的变化，但有几个要素仍然相当稳定。

    He and his followers⁶ argue that human language is different in kind (not just degree of expressiveness) from all other kinds of communication.

    他和其追随者认为，人类语言与所有其他种类的交流方式在种类上(而不仅仅是表达程度上)是不同的。

    All human languages are more similar to each other than they are to, say, whale song or computer code.

    各种人类语言彼此之间的相似性都高于人类语言和鲸鱼的歌声或计算机代码之间的相似性。

    Professor Chomsky has frequently said a Martian visitor would conclude that all humans speak the same language, with surface variation.

    乔姆斯基教授经常说，一个来自火星的访客会得出结论：所有人类都说同样的语言，只是表面上有所不同。

    Perhaps most notably⁷, Chomskyan theories hold that children learn their native languages with astonishing speed and ease despite "the poverty of the stimulus": the sloppy⁸ and occasional language they hear in childhood.

    或许最值得注意的是，乔姆斯基的理论认为，尽管儿童在童年时只偶尔听到一些零碎语句，因而"语言刺激贫瘠"，但儿童能以惊人的速度轻而易举地学会母语。

    The only explanation for this can be that some kind of predisposition for language is built into the human brain.

    对此唯一的解释可能是人类大脑中天生就有某种语言倾向。

    Chomskyan ideas have dominated the linguistic⁹ field of syntax since their birth.

    乔姆斯基的思想从其诞生之日起就一直统治着语言学的句法领域。

    But many linguists¹⁰ are strident anti-Chomskyans.

    但许多语言学家是尖锐的反乔姆斯基主义者。

    And some are now seizing on the capacities of LLMs to attack Chomskyan theories anew.

    其中一些人现在正利用大型语言模型的能力来对乔姆斯基的理论进行新一轮进攻。

    Grammar has a hierarchical, nested structure involving units within other units.

    语法有嵌套的层级结构，语言单位当中又有其他语言单位。

    Words form phrases, which form clauses, which form sentences and so on.

    词构成短语，短语构成子句，子句构成句子，如此等等。

    Chomskyan theory posits¹¹ a mental operation, "Merge¹²", which glues smaller units together to form larger ones that can then be operated on further (and so on).

    乔姆斯基理论假定了一种心理操作"合并"，即将较小的单元粘合在一起形成较大的单元，然后对较大的单元再进行这种操作（如此等等）。

    In a recent New York Times op-ed, the man himself (now 94) and two co-authors said "we know" that computers do not think or use language as humans do, referring implicitly¹³ to this kind of cognition.

    在《纽约时报》最近的一篇社论文章中，乔姆斯基本人(现年94岁)和两位合著者说，"我们知道"计算机思考或使用语言的方式和人类不一样，暗指的就是人类的这种认知方式。

    LLMs, in effect, merely predict the next word in a string of words.

    而大型语言模型实际上只是预测一长串单词中的下一个单词是什么。

1 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

3 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

9 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

10 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

11 posits   

v.假定，设想，假设( posit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• If a book is hard going, it ought to be good. If it posits a complex moral situation, it ought to be even better. 如果一本书很难读，那么它应该是一本好书；如果它提出了一个复杂的道德状况，那么它就更应该是本好书了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ray posits that this miracle is an object lesson for the disciples. 雷把这个奇事当作教训信徒们的事件。 来自互联网

12 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

13 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？