et’s put some robots out of work, shall we? Of course, they’re well suited for delicate precision work involving rocketry and medicine and a number of manufacturing tasks. And they amuse us when they roll up and greet us at the mall. But they’re also trying to weasel their way into creative roles best left to thinking, breathing, inspired human beings. Professor Tao Dacheng, director of the UBTECH Sydney Artificial Intelligence Centre in Australia, said recently that human intelligence “is about four categories of capabilities – perceiving, learning, reasoning and behavior” and that the challenge of AI lies in “transferring those human capabilities to a machine”. While these words hold great promise for mass production and scientific work, note that the good professor did not mention imagining or creating as functions of intelligence. Therein lies the problem. It’s safe to say that China’s increasing passion for robotics, 3-D printing and all manner of mechanization could be on a collision course with the country’s ancient cultural heritage, a treasure celebrated for centuries. A recent Beijing television documentary featured entrepreneurs in the heart of China’s ceramics country, where glorious porcelain comes to life, gushing about how their new machinery could churn out ceramics for tourists who want custom pieces on the spot. Dispensing with the precision work and patience that traditionally involves firing the ceramics for several days in kilns, they boasted that they can now do the job in a matter of hours by using — try not to laugh — a microwave. Or consider the exquisite jade, agate and olive nucleus carvings that have long earned Suzhou a solid reputation for intricate work that amazes. Alas, these are increasingly produced by cold, uncaring machinery, and to the trained eye of a collector, there’s a world of difference. No robot or machine can match the skill of the Suzhou olive carver who, in the space of a mere few centimeters, can create a delicate landscape or a detailed boat filled with smiling, lifelike people. What sets apart the work of human hands is that fingers execute with flair, flourish and spontaneity, the artist making creative use of the limits of the space or medium used. Even accidents create interesting twists. But “intelligent” or not, a robot or 3-D printer merely executes — without passion or inspiration. The Middle Kingdom’s long history of artistic excellence, including painting and poetry, has given the world unsurpassed artworks and handicrafts. So when I see robots being celebrated for their calligraphy “skills” — as if, like their human counterparts, they had to practice to make perfect — I worry that the very lifeblood of art is being wrung out while we watch. (Remember how the “drum machine” drained Western music of its soul in the 1980s?) Keeping in mind that the Belt and Road Initiative will take China’s arts and culture farther afield than ever before, and faster, we should all do our best — Chinese people and Chinese culture lovers alike — to ensure that the Middle Kingdom continues, as it has for centuries, to astound the beholder with artistic mysteries that only human hands can create. 讓機(jī)器人下崗吧，好嗎？ 我不否認(rèn)，機(jī)器人非常適合火箭研究、制藥以及制造業(yè)等精確度要求很高的工作。它們?cè)谏虉?chǎng)里向人們打招呼時(shí)，也令人忍俊不禁。 雖然機(jī)器人也試圖進(jìn)行創(chuàng)造性的工作，但這種任務(wù)最好還是留給能思考、會(huì)呼吸、有靈感的人類吧。 澳大利亞悉尼科技大學(xué)的人工智能中心主任陶大程教授最近表示，人類智能“大約有四種能力——感知、學(xué)習(xí)、推理和習(xí)性”，而人工智能的挑戰(zhàn)在于“如何將人類的這些能力轉(zhuǎn)移給機(jī)器”。 雖然這一番話給大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)和科學(xué)工作帶來(lái)了極大希望，但請(qǐng)注意，這位優(yōu)秀的教授并沒(méi)有提及人工智能有想象或創(chuàng)造的功能。問(wèn)題就在于此。 我們可以斷言，中國(guó)對(duì)機(jī)器人技術(shù)、3D打印和各種機(jī)械化的熱情，可能與中國(guó)數(shù)千年來(lái)燦爛的古代文化遺產(chǎn)發(fā)生抵觸。 中國(guó)因瓷器享譽(yù)世界。最近，一部中國(guó)的電視紀(jì)錄片講述了中國(guó)這個(gè)陶瓷大國(guó)里企業(yè)家的故事。企業(yè)家們滔滔不絕地講述著他們的新機(jī)器怎樣服務(wù)于想要現(xiàn)場(chǎng)定制瓷器的游客。他們省卻了精確耐心的加工過(guò)程，采用傳統(tǒng)工藝，瓷器需要在窯爐里燒制好幾天的時(shí)間，但這些企業(yè)家得意地說(shuō)，他們現(xiàn)在可以用——千萬(wàn)別笑——微波爐加工，只需要幾個(gè)小時(shí)。 或者，想想那些精美的玉石、瑪瑙和橄欖核雕刻吧，這類作品精細(xì)復(fù)雜、令人驚嘆，長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)為蘇州贏得了美名。遺憾的是，這些作品越來(lái)越多地由冰冷、毫無(wú)感情的機(jī)器炮制而成，在專業(yè)收藏家的眼中，這是云泥之別。沒(méi)有機(jī)器能比得上蘇州橄欖核雕刻的技藝，雕刻名家在幾厘米的狹窄空間里，可以創(chuàng)造出精致的風(fēng)景，又或者是一艘小船，上面的乘客個(gè)個(gè)滿面微笑、栩栩如生。 手藝的不同之處在于，工匠們通過(guò)指尖的天賦、動(dòng)作和即興的方式，利用空間或材料的局限進(jìn)行創(chuàng)作。甚至意外瑕疵也會(huì)產(chǎn)生峰回路轉(zhuǎn)的結(jié)果。但機(jī)器人或3D打印機(jī)無(wú)論“智能”與否，都只是執(zhí)行指令——毫無(wú)激情或靈感。 中國(guó)精美的藝術(shù)源遠(yuǎn)流長(zhǎng)，還有繪畫和詩(shī)歌等，都為世界奉上了無(wú)與倫比的藝術(shù)品和手工藝品。 因此，當(dāng)我看到機(jī)器人因其書法“技巧”而出名時(shí)（似是假設(shè)他們也像人類一樣，必須練習(xí)才能做到完美），我擔(dān)心就在我們旁觀期間，藝術(shù)的生命血脈正在被扭曲。（還記得上世紀(jì)八十年代“電子鼓”是如何榨干西方音樂(lè)靈魂的嗎？） 人們應(yīng)該牢記，“一帶一路”倡議會(huì)將中國(guó)文化與藝術(shù)傳播地更遠(yuǎn)、更快，中國(guó)人民以及中國(guó)文化愛(ài)好者都應(yīng)該盡力確保中國(guó)傳奇的延續(xù)，因?yàn)閹装倌陙?lái)，這些震驚了觀賞者的藝術(shù)傳奇，只有人類雙手可以創(chuàng)造。