In my early days as a graduate student, I went on a snorkeling trip off the coast of the Bahamas. I'd actually never swum in the ocean before, so it was a bit terrifying. What I remember the most is, as I put my head in the water and I was trying really hard to breathe through the snorkel, this huge group of striped yellow and black fish came straight at me ... and I just froze. And then, as if it had suddenly changed its mind, came towards me and then swerved to the right and went right around me. It was absolutely mesmerizing. Maybe many of you have had this experience. Of course, there's the color and the beauty of it, but there was also just the sheer oneness of it, as if it wasn't hundreds of fish but a single entity with a single collective mind that was making decisions. When I look back, I think that experience really ended up determining what I've worked on for most of my career.
当我还在读研究生的时候 我在巴哈马海岸参加了一次潜泳之旅 我之前从没在海里游过泳 心里难免有些忐忑 让我印象最深的是 当我把头潜入水中时 很努力地试图通过通气管呼吸 这时一大群拥有黄黑相间条纹的鱼 径直向我游过来 我瞬间变得不知所措 之后鱼群好像突然改变了主意 游到我面前 然后突然右转 与我擦肩而过 这鱼群彻底惊艳到我了 也许你们中的许多人也有过这样的经历 当然 令人着迷的不但 有它的艳丽和壮美 同时也有它纯粹的同一性 好像它不是成百上千条鱼 而是单一 有唯一集体思维的个体 在做决定 回想起来 这段经历 对我职业生涯的大部分工作 起到了决定性的作用
I'm a computer scientist, and the field that I work in is artificial intelligence. And a key theme in AI is being able to understand intelligence by creating our own computational systems that display intelligence the way we see it in nature. Now, most popular views of AI, of course, come from science fiction and the movies, and I'm personally a big Star Wars fan. But that tends to be a very human-centric view of intelligence. When you think of a fish school, or when I think of a flock of starlings, that feels like a really different kind of intelligence. For starters, any one fish is just so tiny compared to the sheer size of the collective, so it seems that any one individual would have a really limited and myopic view of what's going on, and intelligence isn't really about the individual but somehow a property of the group itself.
我是一个计算机科学家 从事的领域是人工智能(AI) 人工智能中一个关键的主题 是能通过创造我们自己的 计算机系统来了解智能 这些系统展现了我们在 自然中所观察到的智能 如今AI最受欢迎的想法是 源于科幻小说和电影 我本人就是星球大战的超级粉丝 但那些关于AI的想法 往往以人类为中心 当你想到鱼群 或当我想到一群八哥时 那是一种全新的关于智能的体会 首先 每一条鱼在庞大鱼群的映衬下 都显得非常微不足道 所以似乎任何一个个体 对于所发生事物的视角都是 非常有限和片面的 智能似乎与个体无关 而是群体的某种属性
Secondly, and the thing that I still find most remarkable, is that we know that there are no leaders supervising this fish school. Instead, this incredible collective mind behavior is emerging purely from the interactions of one fish and another. Somehow, there are these interactions or rules of engagement between neighboring fish that make it all work out.
其次 我觉得最引人注目的是 鱼群中没有指挥者监督它们 这种简直不可思议的集体行为 仅仅源于个体之间的互动 在相邻的鱼之间以某种方式 存在着合作的规律 得以呈现这样的景象
So the question for AI then becomes, what are those rules of engagement that lead to this kind of intelligence, and of course, can we create our own?
所以AI的问题演变成了 引导这种智能背后的规则是什么呢 当然还包括 我们可以把它创造出来吗
And that's the primary thing that I work on with my team in my lab. We work on it through theory, looking at abstract rule systems and thinking about the mathematics behind it. We also do it through biology, working closely with experimentalists. But mostly, we do it through robotics, where we try to create our own collective systems that can do the kinds of things that we see in nature, or at least try to.
这就是我和我的团队 在实验室中的主要工作内容 我们通过理论研究 观察其中抽象的规则系统 然后思考蕴藏在背后的运算规则 我们也会和生物学方面的 研究人员密切合作 但最主要的是 我们通过机器人进行研究 尝试着去创造 属于我们自己的群体系统 使其可以完成我们在 自然中所观察到的现象 至少可以尝试一下
One of our first robotic quests along this line was to create our very own colony of a thousand robots. So very simple robots, but they could be programmed to exhibit collective intelligence, and that's what we were able to do. So this is what a single robot looks like. It's quite small, about the size of a quarter, and you can program how it moves, but it can also wirelessly communicate with other robots, and it can measure distances from them. And so now we can start to program exactly an interaction, a rule of engagement between neighbors. And once we have this system, we can start to program many different kinds of rules of engagement that you would see in nature.
由此 我们第一批的机器人探索活动 创造了属于我们的 由一千个机器人组成的群体 非常简单的机器人 但可以通过编程让它们展现集体智慧 这也是我们能够实现的 这是单个的机器人 它非常小 只有一枚硬币大小 你可以通过编程控制它的移动 但它也可以和其他的机器人无线连接 同时也可以测量它们之间的距离 现在我们可以开始 精确地编码一个交互运动 两个相邻机器人之间得运动规则 一旦我们有了这个系统 我们就能开始编码你可以 在自然界中观察到的 许多不同种类的规则
So for example, spontaneous synchronization, how audiences are clapping and suddenly start all clapping together, the fireflies flashing together. We can program rules for pattern formation, how cells in a tissue determine what role they're going to take on and set the patterns of our bodies. We can program rules for migration, and in this way, we're really learning from nature's rules.
例如自发同步现象 观众是怎样鼓掌 怎样突然一起开始鼓掌的 萤火虫如何同步闪烁 我们可以编码图案形成的规则 组织中的细胞 如何决定它们将会起什么样的作用 进而决定我们的人体结构的 我们可以编码迁移的规则 这样一来我们真的是在借鉴自然法则
But we can also take it a step further. We can actually take these rules that we've learned from nature and combine them and create entirely new collective behaviors of our very own.
但我们也可以更进一步 我们可以将这些从自然中学到的规律 结合在一起 创造全新的 属于我们自己的 集体行为
So for example, imagine that you had two different kinds of rules. So your first rule is a motion rule where a moving robot can move around other stationary robots. And your second rule is a pattern rule where a robot takes on a color based on its two nearest neighbors. So if I start with a blob of robots in a little pattern seed, it turns out that these two rules are sufficient for the group to be able to self-assemble a simple line pattern. And if I have more complicated pattern rules, and I design error correction rules, we can actually create really, really complicated self assemblies, and here's what that looks like.
例如 想象一下你有两种不同的规则 第一种是运动规则 运动的机器人可以在 其他固定的机器人周围移动 第二种是样式规则 机器人参考相邻的两个机器人 呈现与其不同的颜色 如果从一小组机器人开始 结果显示这两种规则已经 足够实现让群体自我组装成 一个简单的线性图案这一目标 如果我用更复杂的样式规则 并且设计错误更正规则 我们就可以创造 非常复杂的自组装结构了 给大家展示一下初步成果
So here, you're going to see a thousand robots that are working together to self-assemble the letter K. The K is on its side. And the important thing is that no one is in charge. So any single robot is only talking to a small number of robots nearby it, and it's using its motion rule to move around the half-built structure just looking for a place to fit in based on its pattern rules. And even though no robot is doing anything perfectly, the rules are such that we can get the collective to do its goal robustly together. And the illusion becomes almost so perfect, you know -- you just start to not even notice that they're individual robots at all, and it becomes a single entity, kind of like the school of fish.
这里你们可以看到一千个机器人 合作自发组成字母K 完成后的字母位于上方 重要的是没有一个 机器人起指导作用 每个机器人 只和周围的一些机器人交流 它利用自身的运动规则 在建了一半的结构周围运动 只是根据其样式规律 寻找一个合适的位置 即使没有一个机器人的行为是完美的 这些规则却足以使我们通过集体协作 顺利达成目标 这种幻想近乎完美 你们甚至不需要注意到 它们是个体机器人 它们变成了一个单一的实体 就像刚刚提到的鱼群一样
So these are robots and rules in two dimensions, but we can also think about robots and rules in three dimensions. So what if we could create robots that could build together? And here, we can take inspiration from social insects. So if you think about mound-building termites or you think about army ants, they create incredible, complex nest structures out of mud and even out of their own bodies. And like the system I showed you before, these insects actually also have pattern rules that help them determine what to build, but the pattern can be made out of other insects, or it could be made out of mud. And we can use that same idea to create rules for robots.
这些是从二维层面看 机器人及其运动规则 但我们也可以从三维的角度 考虑机器人和规则 如果我们能创造 有建筑能力的机器人呢 看看这里 我们从 社会性昆虫身上获得了启发 如果你想到了白蚁丘 或者是行军蚁 它们用泥土 甚至用它们自己的身体 惊人 复杂的巢穴结构 就像我之前给你们展示的系统一样 这些昆虫实际上也有排布规则 可以帮助它们决定要建造什么 但是这种样式结构 也可以由其他昆虫造出来 或者是用泥土 我们也可以将同样的想法 用于创建机器人规则上
So here, you're going to see some simulated robots. So the simulated robot has a motion rule, which is how it traverses through the structure, looking for a place to fit in, and it has pattern rules where it looks at groups of blocks to decide whether to place a block. And with the right motion rules and the right pattern rules, we can actually get the robots to build whatever we want. And of course, everybody wants their own tower.
这里你们可以看到一些模拟机器人 模拟机器人有自己的运动规则 指导它如何穿越结构体 找到一个合适的地方 同时它也有排布规则 它会查看组块 来决定是否放下一个方块 有了正确的运动和样式规则之后 我们就能让机器人建造出 我们想要的任何东西 当然每个人都想要属于自己的塔楼
(Laughter)
(笑)
So once we have these rules, we can start to create the robot bodies that go with these rules. So here, you see a robot that can climb over blocks, but it can also lift and move these blocks and it can start to edit the very structure that it's on. But with these rules, this is really only one kind of robot body that you could imagine. You could imagine many different kinds of robot bodies. So if you think about robots that maybe could move sandbags and could help build levees, or we could think of robots that built out of soft materials and worked together to shore up a collapsed building -- so just the same kind of rules in different kinds of bodies. Or if, like my group, you are completely obsessed with army ants, then maybe one day we can make robots that can climb over literally anything including other members of their tribe, and self-assemble things out of their own bodies. Once you understand the rules, just many different kinds of robot visions become possible.
一旦我们有了这些规则 我们就可以开始创造 能遵守这些规则的机器人 在这儿你们能看到 可以爬上方块的机器人 但它也可以举起和移动这些方块 可以编辑它所在的结构体 但即便有了这些规则 这也仅仅只是你们能想到的 机器人中的一种 你们可以想象许多不同种类的机器人 如果你觉得机器人也许可以移动沙袋 并帮助建筑堤坝 或者我们想象机器人 可以用柔软的材料造成 共同支撑倒塌的建筑 只是把同样的规则 用于不同种类的机器人 或是像我的团队一样 你完全着迷于行军蚁 那么也许有一天我们能 让机器人攀爬所有的东西 包括它们部落中的其它成员 或者用它们自身自组装一些东西 一旦你明白了这些规律 许多不同的机器人愿景都将成为可能
And coming back to the snorkeling trip, we actually understand a great deal about the rules that fish schools use. So if we can invent the bodies to go with that, then maybe there is a future where I and my group will get to snorkel with a fish school of our own creation.
再回到那个潜泳之旅 事实上我们非常了解鱼群的运动规则 如果我们能创造一个那样的群体 那么也许在未来 我的团队将和我们创造的鱼群 展开一次潜泳之旅
Each of these systems that I showed you brings us closer to having the mathematical and the conceptual tools to create our own versions of collective power, and this can enable many different kinds of future applications, whether you think about robots that build flood barriers or you think about robotic bee colonies that could pollinate crops or underwater schools of robots that monitor coral reefs, or if we reach for the stars and we thinking about programming constellations of satellites. In each of these systems, being able to understand how to design the rules of engagement and being able to create good collective behavior becomes a key to realizing these visions.
我向你们展示的每一个系统 都使我们更接近利用数学和概念工具 来创造属于我们的集体力量这一目标 这也使许多不同的未来应用成为可能 机器人可以建筑防洪堤 可以给农作物授粉 或是让水下机器人模拟珊瑚礁 又或者假设我们抵达某个星球 并设计了卫星的行星 在每一个系统中 能明白如何设计交互规则 以及创造良好的集体行为 成为了实现这些愿景的关键
So, so far I've talked about rules for insects and for fish and for robots, but what about the rules that apply to our own human collective? And the last thought that I'd like to leave you with is that science is of course itself an incredible manifestation of collective intelligence, but unlike the beautiful fish schools that I study, I feel we still have a much longer evolutionary path to walk. So in addition to working on improving the science of robot collectives, I also work on creating robots and thinking about rules that will improve our own scientific collective. There's this saying that I love: who does science determines what science gets done. Imagine a society where we had rules of engagement where every child grew up believing that they could stand here and be a technologist of the future, or where every adult believed that they had the ability not just to understand but to change how science and technology impacts their everyday lives. What would that society look like? I believe that we can do that. I believe that we can choose our rules, and we engineer not just robots but we can engineer our own human collective, and if we do and when we do, it will be beautiful.
那么到目前为 止 我谈到了昆虫 鱼群 还有机器人的各种行为规则 但是那些适用于人类集体的规则呢 我想留给你们的最后一点思考是 科学本身 毫无疑问就是 集体智慧的伟大体现 但不同于我所研究的美丽鱼群 我觉得我们还有很长的一段路要走 除了要致力于改进机器人集体的科学 我还致力于创造机器人和思考 能够改善我们的科学团队的规则 有一句谚语我很喜欢 科学的成果掌握在从事科学的人手中 想象这样一个社会 我们有交互规则 使得每个孩子从小就 相信自己长大后能站在这里 并成为未来的技术专家 或者每一个成年人 都相信他们不仅有能力去理解 更有能力去改变 科技如何影响他们的日常生活 那样的社会该有多么美好啊 我相信我们能做得到 我相信我们可以选择自己的规则 我们不仅能设计机器人 更可以设计我们的人类群体 在我们开始行动时 一切都将变得非常美好
Thank you.
谢谢
(Applause)
(掌声)