The digital proletariat 数字无产者（上）

Economists propose a radical solution to the problems posed by artificial intelligence.

针对人工智能引发的问题经济学家们提出了一个激进的解决方案。

You have multiple jobs, whether you know it or not. Most begin first thing in the morning, when you pick up your phone and begin generating the data that make up Silicon Valley’s most important resource.

不管你有没有意识到，你其实有多份工作。大多始于早晨第一件事，当你拿起手机就开始产生数据，而这些数据构成了硅谷最重要的资源。

That, at least, is how we ought to think about the role of data-creation in the economy, according to a fascinating new economics paper. We are all digital laborers, helping make possible fortunes generated by firms like Google and Facebook, the authors argue.

根据一篇最新发表引人入胜的文章，至少那就是我们该如何思考数据制造在经济活动中的作用。文章作者声称我们都是数据工人，都在帮助像谷歌和脸书那样的公司生成可能的财富。

If the economy is to function properly in the future-and if a crisis of technological unemployment is to be avoided-we must take account of this, and change the relationship between big internet companies and their users.

要想将来经济两性运转，要想避免由于技术性失业所产生的危机，我们必须把数据制造考虑近来，还要改变大的互联网公司和其用户之间的关系。

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is getting better all the time, and stand poised to transform a host of industries, say the authors. But, in order to drive a car or recognize a face, the algorithms that make clever machines tick must usually be trained on massive amounts of data.

文章作者认为人工智能（AI）正在持续完善，并且已经准备好去改变很多产业。通过算法可以让聪明的机器建立自己的思维模式，进而去学习如何驾驶汽车或是识别人脸，然而算法通常必须在海量的数据基础上训练。

Internet firms gather these data from users every time they click on a Google search result, say, or issue a command to Alexa. They also hoover up valuable data from users through the use of tools like reCAPTCHA, which ask visitors to solve problems that are easy for humans but hard for AIs, such as deciphering text from books that machines are unable to parse. That does not just screen out malicious bots, but also helps digitize books.

每一次当用户点击谷歌的搜索结果或是向Alexa发出指令时，互联网公司都在向他们收集数据。他们也通过使用类似reCAPTCHA这样的工具从用户那里获取大量有价值的数据，这些工具邀请用户去解决对AI来说较难而人可以轻松应对的问题，比如像解读机器无法分析的书中的文章。那不仅仅是筛选出恶意的自动程序，还能帮助书籍实现数字化。

These data become part of the firms’ capital, and, as such, a fearsome source of competitive advantage. Would-be startups that might challenge internet giants cannot train their AIS without access to the data only those giants possess. Their best hope is often to be acquired by those very same titans, adding to the problem of uncompetitive markets.

这些数据变成了公司资本的一部分，形成了一种可怕的竞争优势之源。将来可能挑战互联网巨头的创业公司由于不能使用只有那些巨头才持有的数据就无法训练他们的AI。通常最好的希望就是被那些持有数据的巨无霸收购，而这则加剧了市场竞争不足的问题。