经济学人:Bartleby专栏:对新技术影响的担忧过度(2)

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allocating¹ desk space and keeping records of meetings. All this can free up time for people to work on more important strategic decisions. 分配办公空间以及保存会议记录。所有这些都为人们节省时间去进行更加重要的战略决策。

The authors also think that AI could help collaboration² within companies. One obvious example is the elimination³ of language barriers. 本专栏作者还认为AI可以帮助公司内部的合作。一个明显的例子就是消除语言障碍。

Multinational⁴ companies may have employees who lack a common language; AI can handle translation in real time so that dialogue is easier. 跨国公司中的员工说不同的语言，AI可以进行即时翻译让沟通变得更加轻松。

And the report argues that AI can produce better decision-making by offering a contrarian opinion so that teams can avoid the danger of groupthink. 并且该报告还争辩到AI可以提供一条相反的意见，让团队避免小团体意识，从而做出更好的决策。

A program could analyse e-mails and meeting transcripts⁵ and issue alerts when potentially false assumptions are being made 当出现潜在错误假设时，程序可以分析邮件、会议纪要并发出警告

(rather like the boy in the Hans Christian⁶ Andersen tale who notices that the Emperor has no clothes). （就像是安徒生童话故事中那个注意到皇帝没有穿衣服的男孩一样）。

Or it can warn a team when it is getting distracted from the task in hand. 当手头任务被干扰时，也可以向团队发出警告。

When a firm is starting a new project, AI can also suggest experts from other parts of the organisation⁷ who could contribute. 当一家公司开始一个新项目时，AI也可以推荐公司内部其他部门的专家为该项目提供帮助。

In recruitment, managers could set criteria⁸ for "cognitive⁹ diversity" (seeking people with different academic and cultural backgrounds) 在招聘时，管理者可以为“认知多样性”设定标准（寻找那些来自不同教育和文化背景的人）

when conducting a job search and allow AI to suggest candidates. This could eliminate remaining hiring biases¹⁰ in favour of white males. 并允许AI推荐候选人。这样可以避免招聘白人应聘者的偏好。

Helen Poitevin of Gartner, a research company, says that some firms are using AI to suggest training possibilities to existing workers, 研究公司高德纳的海伦·普瓦特万表示一些公司利用AI根据类似员工的职业道路，推荐针对现有员工的培训

based on the career paths of similar staff, as an aid to their career development. 帮助员工实现职业发展。

And programs are also being used to analyse individual employees' feedback AI程序还被用于分析员工的反馈

so that managers can be aware of specific areas where a lot of people are unhappy. 这样管理者可以了解员工最不满意的地方是什么。

If they react in the right way, this should make workers' lives better. 如果他们反映得当，那么这种做法可以让员工生活变得更好。

All of which is a useful corrective to some of the more alarming predictions about the potential effects of AI. 这一切都是对AI潜在影响警惕性预测的有效更正。

But as ever, it needs to be remembered that programs are only as good as the data they are given. 但一如既往，需要记住程序的质量取决于输入程序中的数据。

If those who input¹¹ the data have biases, they may show up in the suggestions that it generates. 如果输入的数据存在偏好，那么这种偏好会体现在程序生成的建议中。

As Ms Poitevin says, AI can help improve diversity in the workforce¹² "if we want it to". 正如普瓦特万所说，AI可以帮助提高员工的多样性，前提是“如果我们希望的话”。

The best employers should be able to turn AI into a positive for workers. 最好的雇主应该能够将AI转变成对员工有益的东西。

 

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