Google本周三宣布將任命原人工智能部門研究主管John Giannandrea,負(fù)責(zé)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)該公司旗下最重要的搜索引擎業(yè)務(wù),顯示互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的核心技術(shù)正發(fā)生巨大變革。具體來(lái)說(shuō),新算法可以“理解”相似的詞語(yǔ)和短語(yǔ),因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)對(duì)這些相似的詞語(yǔ)進(jìn)行編碼,以便搜索引擎“看懂”。
測(cè)試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識(shí):
algorithm算法['?lg?r?e(?)m]
deluge泛濫['delju?d?]
wrestled斗爭(zhēng)['res(?)l]
foreseeable可預(yù)測(cè)的[f??'si??bl]
Himalayas喜馬拉雅山脈[h?'mɑlj?z]
Google puts AI expert in charge of its search algorithms (558words)
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Google has put an artificial intelligence expert in charge of its search algorithms, signalling a sea change in one of the core technologies of the internet that may ultimately give intelligent machines the job of finding and sorting information for humans.
The search company on Wednesday named John Giannandrea, an expert in machine learning, to run the engineering group that devises its ranking algorithms, the core technology for making sense of the deluge of information on the internet.
He replaces Amit Singhal, an Indian engineer who oversaw a rewrite of Google's ranking technology after joining 15 years ago. He has since headed its search engineering efforts as the company has consolidated its grip on internet search for most of the world and wrestled with the new approaches to search forced by things such as the rise of smartphone apps.
For Google, Mr Singhal's departure is as significant as the departure of design chief Sir Jony Ive would be for Apple, said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land and a long-time analyst of the search industry.
He called Mr Singhal the “guiding force” behind the Google search engine, which is still the main source of the company's profits, and an “orchestra leader” who had succeeded in maintaining the quality of the search results as Google has grappled with the mass of new online information and new ways of searching.
His departure coincides with a wave of investment in artificial intelligence at Google, both to boost the overall quality of its core products as well as support a push into newer fields such as driverless cars and robotics.
The projects Mr Giannandrea has been in charge of at Google include RankBrain, a neural network — modelled on how layers of neurons in the brain interact — that tries to use machine intelligence to improve the ranking of search results without the intervention of human programmers.
Despite the growing importance of AI, machines are not likely to seize control of Google's search algorithms for the foreseeable future, said Mr Sullivan.
The technology has been put to use by Google to better understand what searchers are looking for, he said, but it is still a stretch for it to predict which piece of information people will find most useful. Nevertheless, the rise of an AI expert to head the rankings group points to an underlying shift in the technology that could one day see much of the job of search ranking left to machines, said Greg Sterling, an analyst at the Local Search Association in the US. The technology shift might one day leave Google's search engineers facing the risk of being put out of work by intelligent machines as workers in other fields, Mr Sterling said, though he added that there was always likely to be some level of human oversight.
“There will always be some sort of human oversight or spot-checking,” Mr Sterling said. “There will always be someone in the control room.”
Mr Singhal has long used the fictional intelligent computer on Star Trek as the model for the perfect search engine. In a post on Google+ announcing he was leaving the company, he said he had first dreamt of the idea when growing up in the Himalayas. “My dream Star Trek computer is becoming a reality, and it is far better than what I ever imagined,” he added.
請(qǐng)根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容,完成以下自測(cè)題目:
1.What is the core technology for making sense of the deluge of information?
A.scientific management
B.computer language
ranking algorithms
D.recursive identification algorithms
答案(1)
2.Why Mr.Singhal was called “orchestra leader”?
A.taking up the main source of the Google's profits
B.Sir Jony's best friend
C.pushing into newer fields
D.maintaining the quality of the search results
答案(2)
3.Which one of the following is wrong about AI and search algorithms?
A.The technology is aim to understand what searchers are looking for.
B.Machines will seize control of Google's search algorithms.
C.It is still a stretch for it to predict useful information.
D.There was always likely to be some level of human oversight.
答案(3)
4.Where is Singhal's main source of inspiration about intelligent computer?
A.fiction
B.music
C.movie
D.legend
答案(4)
* * *
(1)答案:C.ranking algorithms
解釋:相關(guān)排序技術(shù)是搜索引擎結(jié)果處理的一個(gè)核心技術(shù),其排序算法的優(yōu)劣直接影響查準(zhǔn)率。
(2)答案:D.maintaining the quality of the search results
解釋:Singhal領(lǐng)導(dǎo)期間在保證了谷歌在激烈競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中保持住有質(zhì)量的搜索結(jié)果。
(3)答案:B.Machines will seize control of Google's search algorithms.
解釋:機(jī)器不可能完全主導(dǎo)這一領(lǐng)域。
(4)答案:C.movie
解釋:即將離職的Singhal在辭職公開(kāi)信中表示自己一直以設(shè)計(jì)出“星際迷航”中的電腦作為夢(mèng)想,如今這一夢(mèng)想“即將成為現(xiàn)實(shí),而且要比我此前想像的更好?!?/p>