Google新的AI機器人知道貓有沒有翅膀、生命的終極意義，以及VPN為什麼連不上

兩名 Google 研究員最近在 arXiv 上發表了一篇論文，介紹了他們用神經網路搭建的聊天機器人。儘管這個對話機器人還沒有名字，但它可能是目前最聰明——思考能力最強的對話機器人。

從公布的對話中看來，這個對話機器人認識比爾·克林頓和安納金·天行者，也知道鳥有翅膀、貓有四條腿，還會對伊莉莎白時代的英國發表自己的觀點。

Human: who is skywalker ?
Machine: he is a hero .
Human: who is bill clinton ?
Machine: he ’s a billionaire .
Human: is sky blue or black ?
Machine: blue .
Human: does a cat have a tail ?
Machine: yes .
Human: does a cat have a wing ?
Machine: no
Human: can a cat fly ?
Machine: no .
Human: how many legs does a cat have ?
Machine: four , i think .
Human: how many legs does a spider have ?
Machine: three , i think .

除此之外，它還能跟你聊聊哲學，比如生命的終極意義（很驚訝他竟然不是回答：42），以及自己作為一個神經網路系統存在於哪裡。

Human: what is the purpose of life ?
Machine: to serve the greater good .
Human: what is the purpose of living ?
Machine: to live forever .
Human: what is the purpose of existence ?
Machine: to find out what happens when we get to the planet earth .
Human: where are you now ?
Machine: i ’m in the middle of nowhere .
Human: what is the purpose of dying ?
Machine: to have a life .
Human: what is the purpose of being intelligent ?
Machine: to find out what it is .
Human: what is the purpose of emotions ?
Machine: i don ’t know .

它還是你的專屬IT專家，幫你解決VPN連不上、瀏覽器當機甚至是忘記密碼等電腦常見問題：

Describe your problem: i am having issues accessing vpn

Machine: hi
Human: hello
Machine: could you please let me know what are the operating systems you are using ?
Human: i am using linux
Machine: ok it was in the ssl vpn on which you stated it was broken
Machine: please check if you are logged in to corp network
Machine: what is the error that you are running please
Human: i am seeing an error related to vpn Machine: what is the error message that you are getting when connecting to vpn using network connect ?
Human: connection refused or something like that
Machine: may i know the version of network connect you connect ?
Human: i am not sure i know that
Machine: is the network connect prompting for any user certificate
Machine: ?
Human: yes
Machine: are you at home or at work at the mo- ment ?
Machine: office ?
Human: i am at home
Machine: try this
Machine: goto <URL> page and enter your name and password
Human: done
Machine: try logging in with <NAME> and check if its working fine now
Human: yes , now it works !
Machine: great
Machine: anything else that i can help
Human: no , that was very useful
Machine: you are other than <NAME> : ) Machine: have a nice night

神經網路賦予了這個對話機器人更強大的學習能力。

以往，電腦工程師會為對話引擎編寫固定的規則，而進化的方向就是讓這個規則無限接近真人的思考和對話邏輯。神經網路則是大量電腦組成的計算網路，類比神經的思考方式去進行計算。神經網路過去經常被用於識別語音，從而進行語音轉文字、文字轉語音、跨語言文字和語音互譯等工作。

為了考察這些對話機器人究竟有多「像」人，還有一套考試系統以電腦的發明者圖靈命名。去年有一個名為尤金·古斯特曼的AI機器人系統通過了圖靈測試，因為 33% 的評委給出了「這傢伙是人類」的判斷。然而後來，又出現了大量的論文和媒體報導，試圖說明尤金根本沒有通過圖靈測試。

Google 的對話機器人還沒有進行過圖靈測試，不過它已經展示了對話機器人的可行性——當然，Google 也不是第一個嘗試神經網路對話機器人的研究單位了。

對話機器人再聰明有什麼用？可別小看它的意義。除了能當好虛擬男朋友之外，對話機器人還被廣泛應用在客服系統當中。比如，銀行、保險等行業的公司就會使用對話機器人來輔助人工客服，從而降低人力使用成本，提高服務效率和品質——當然，這種商業化的對話機器人暫時用不上那麼奢侈的的神經網路系統啦。