阿拉丁擦一下他的油灯,就会有个智能的精灵跳出来满足他的愿望。他的精灵属于童话世界。可现实世界的芸芸众生也梦想着拥有强大而智能的人造仆人。这个梦想而今正在成为由硅、金属和塑料打造成的现实,但它是个梦想还是个梦魇?事实会证明更聪明的机器是有益的吗?抑或它们将成为弗兰肯斯坦那样的怪物?这是麻省理工学院的埃里克·布林约尔松和安德鲁·麦卡菲合著的《第二个机器时代》中提出的问题,该书预言人类将经历“人类历史上两个最神奇的事件: Aladdin wipe his lamp, there will be a smart wizard jumped out to meet his wishes. His elves belong to the fairy tale world. Real-world mortal beings also dreamed of having powerful and intelligent servants. This dream is now becoming a reality made of silicon, metal and plastic, but is it a dream or a nightmare? Does the fact prove that smarter machines are good? Or are they going to be Frankenstein’s monsters? The questions raised in the Second Machine Age by MIT’s Eric Brinjollson and Andrew McCarthy, which predict that mankind will experience ”the two most amazing miracles in human history event: