「AlphaGo出來後對行業產生了很大的影響，」北京大學研究機器學習的教授查紅彬說，「政府討論的內容變得更加廣泛，更加具體。」他補充說，不久後，政府便創立了一個關於腦啟發計算的新項目。
舍基說，儘管有政府的大力支持，這個領域內的進步最終可能會產生適得其反的效果。人工智慧可能有助於中國更好地審查互聯網，這通常會阻礙中國研究人員查找重要信息。與此同時，更好的人工智慧可能有助於中文讀者輕鬆地翻譯文章和其他信息。
「事實是，」 舍基說，「與汽車工程不同，人工智慧會帶來意想不到的事物。這將使世界變得更加不可預測，這一點從來不是北京樂見的。」
“After AlphaGo came out and had such a big impact on the industry,” said Zha Hongbin, a professor of machine learning at Peking University, “the content of government discussions got much wider and more concrete.” Shortly afterward, the government created a new project on brain-inspired computing, he added.
For all the government support, advances in the field could ultimately backfire, Mr. Shirky said. Artificial intelligence may help China better censor the internet, a task that often blocks Chinese researchers from finding vital information. At the same time, better A.I. could make it easier for Chinese readers to translate articles and other information.
“The fact is,” Mr. Shirky said, “unlike automobile engineering, artificial intelligence will lead to surprises. That will make the world considerably less predictable, and that’s never been Beijing’s favorite characteristic.”
