Magic and Wonder in the Age of AI | David Kwong | TED

I am both a magician and a New York Times cross-repuzzle constructor, and I think that all magic tricks are puzzles, puzzles designed to fool your brain. I'm also a self-described word nerd, and I was thinking the other day about the word wonder and the meaning of the word wonder. What is wonder? Well, I'm not going to bore you with etymology for two reasons. Number one, because being bored by etymology is impossible because etymology is amazing. And number two, I looked it up, and according to the online etymological dictionary, the word wonder is ultimately of unknown origin, which is pretty perfect, right? It's just one more thing for us to wonder about.

我是一个魔术师，同时也是《纽约时报》的填字谜题设计师。我认为所有的魔术都是谜题，都是为了欺骗你的大脑而设计的谜题。我还自称是个文字迷，前几天我在思考“wonder”这个词和它的含义。那么，“wonder”究竟是什么意思呢？好吧，我不会跟你讲词源学的内容，有两个原因。第一，因为词源学根本不可能让人觉得无聊，因为词源学本身就很神奇。第二，我查了一下，根据在线词源词典，“wonder”这个词的最终来源是未知的，这是不是很完美？这又给我们增加了一件值得好奇的事。

Now, this brings me to an interesting point. Today, when we use wonder as a verb, it can be pretty humdrum, like, I wonder what she had for lunch, or as an adjective, same thing. Mm, this cake is wonderful. That's just like pretty good cake. It's only when we use wonder as a noun that we get a sense of its true meaning. The great pyramid of Giza, the last remaining of the seven ancient wonders of the world. A wonder is an experience or an object that defies explanation, that blows our mind, that stirs within us that deep and undeniable sense of wonder.

现在，这让我想到了一个有趣的点。今天，当我们用“wonder”作为动词时，它往往显得平淡无奇，比如，“我想知道她午餐吃了什么。”作为形容词也一样，“嗯，这蛋糕真棒。” 这只是一个不错的蛋糕而已。只有当我们用“wonder”作为名词时，我们才能感受到它的真正含义。吉萨大金字塔，世界七大古代奇迹中唯一留存的一个。一个“奇迹”是一种无法解释的体验或物体，它让我们感到震撼，在我们内心激起那种深刻而不可否认的惊奇感。

A wonder, therefore, is something that when we see it, it makes us question what is possible. We see something that is impossible, and there it is right in front of us. It's that disconnect, that yawning gap between shouldn't be and is that inspires wonder. And, of course, when we think of wonder and wondrous times, it often helps to cast our minds back to an earlier age when we assume man's capacity for wonder was greater. I mentioned the great pyramid of Giza before, and there was a time when, for an ancient traveler winding their way up the Nile, and first catching sight of a perfectly symmetrical artificial mountain rising hundreds of feet above the desert floor, that it would have been simply unimaginable. It shouldn't be, but it is. And now, you know, we have the Burj Khalifa. It's way bigger. And though most of us who aren't architects and engineers wouldn't say we know exactly how they built the Burj, we're pretty confident that somebody does with architecty engineering stuff. It's possible.

因此，当我们看到一件奇迹时，它会让我们质疑什么是可能的。我们看到一些不可能的东西，它就在我们眼前。正是这种脱节，这种“不应该存在”和“确实存在”之间的巨大差距激发了我们的惊奇。当然，当我们想到奇迹和奇妙的时代时，通常回想一下早期的年龄会更有帮助，我们认为那时人类的惊奇能力更强。我之前提到过吉萨大金字塔，有这么一段时间，一个古代旅行者沿尼罗河行进，第一次看到一座完美对称的人造山脉，在沙漠地面上高耸几百英尺，这简直是难以想象的。这本不应该存在，但它确实存在。而现在，我们有了哈利法塔，它大得多。虽然我们大多数人不是建筑师和工程师，不会说我们确切知道他们是如何建造哈利法塔的，但我们很有信心，有人懂那些建筑工程的东西。这是可能的。

So that leads me to today's question. Has too much technology robbed us of wonder? Have we traded in magic and mystery for cold, hard logic and logistics? Can we today, with our scientific sophistication, ever recapture our ancestors' capacity for wonder? And I'm glad you asked rhetorically. Because I would answer with a resounding yes. I would say that not only can we experience wonder despite our modern marvels and technological advances, but that we can experience more wonder because of them.

这引出了我今天的问题：科技是否让我们失去了对奇迹的惊叹？我们是否用冷冰冰的逻辑和技术交换了曾经的神奇与神秘？在今天这个科学高度发达的时代，我们还能像祖先一样感受到那种惊叹吗？很高兴你这么问了，因为我的回答是非常肯定的。我认为不仅在现代的奇迹和科技进步中我们仍然可以体验到惊叹，反而正是因为这些进步，我们可以体验到更多的惊叹。

We live in a world more wondrous than our ancestors ever could have imagined. And technology isn't the barrier to unlocking wonder. It is the key. Okay, look at this. Rainbows. We all love rainbows. How do those pretty colors get up in the sky? Now, look at this. The Pillars of Creation. As photographed by the Hubble telescope in 1995, the Pillars of Creation are 7,000 light years from Earth and 5 light years tall. 5 light years tall. Take that rainbows and no Hubble telescope and no Pillars of Creation. I mean, they'd still be there, of course, but we would never be able to see them.

我们生活在一个比祖先所能想象的更加奇妙的世界中。科技不仅不是解开奇迹的障碍，反而是钥匙。好，现在看看这个。彩虹。我们都喜欢彩虹。这些漂亮的颜色是怎么出现在天空中的？再看看这个。创造之柱。这是1995年由哈勃望远镜拍摄的。创造之柱距离地球7000光年，高度为5光年。5光年高。想想彩虹吧，如果没有哈勃望远镜和创造之柱，它们当然依然存在，但我们永远也看不到。

Advancements in technology increase our opportunities for wonder. As a magician, I have the coolest job in the world. I get to stand in a long line of men and women of priests and shamans of wizard and witches who stand on the precipice of technological advancement and look out from the cutting edge of mankind's achievement into the eternal expanse of the unknown and say, I can totally use this to screw with people's minds.Which brings us to AI. You're all familiar with chat GPT. Have you played with it? Yes. I've been experimenting with chat GPT and I've discovered that there's a fun little party trick that it can do if you give it enough information. It can make certain deductions. And I want to show you what I'm talking about.

技术的进步让我们有更多机会感到惊奇。作为一个魔术师，我拥有世界上最酷的工作。我能够加入一个由男女牧师、萨满、巫师和女巫组成的队伍，站在技术进步的前沿，从人类成就的尖端眺望未知的广袤天地，并说：“我完全可以利用这些来搞乱人们的思维。”这将我们引向了人工智能。你们都听说过ChatGPT吧？试过它吗？我一直在研究ChatGPT，发现如果给予它足够的信息，它可以进行一些有趣的小推理。现在我想向你们展示我所说的内容。

I have chat GPT right here. And let's warm it up with how about this? Please write a haiku about a TED talk in Paris. Here we go. First head talk airs. Ideas dance with Eiffel's grace. Wisdom blooms like spring. That's nice. All right. I want to try something with someone from the audience. Do I have a volunteer who might want to? It's going to be painless, I promise. Is anyone willing to? Are you willing to join me? What is your name? Francois. That's a unique name here in Paris. Please join me. Let's give Francois. Thank you.

我有Chat GPT在这里。我们先热热身怎么样？请为在巴黎举行的TED演讲写一首俳句。好，开始。第一场TED演讲上演，想法在埃菲尔铁塔的优雅中舞动，智慧如春天般绽放。真不错。好吧。我想试试与观众互动一下。有哪位愿意自愿参与？我保证这很轻松。有没有人愿意？你愿意加入我吗？你叫什么名字？Francois。这个名字在巴黎很独特。请上来吧。让我们给Francois一点掌声。谢谢。

Hello. Hello. Francois, I'm going to put some information about you into chat GPT if that's okay. All right. Let's have some fun with it. So I am here with Francois. F-A-R-A-N-C-O-I-S, right? I just wanted to make sure I got that right. Where are you from originally? Yes, there's a little thing, but I don't know how to type the little thing. Where are you from originally? Right here. From Paris. What is your favorite food? Coffee. Yes. C-O-N-F-I-T. Yes, I do know that. It's very fancy. Do you have any pets? No. Did you grow up with any pets? What was your pet? A cat named? You're going to have to spell that. A cat named. Pistachio. Pistach. With an E-P-I-S-T-A-C-H-E. Yes. Pistach. Is there a little thing? There's no little thing. Okay. And are you right-handed or left-handed? You're right-handed, right. He is right-handed. Okay. So we have some information.

你好。你好。Francois，我要把一些关于你的信息放到聊天GPT里，可以吗？好吧，让我们来点有趣的。现在我和Francois在一起。是F-A-R-A-N-C-O-I-S，对吗？我只是想确认一下拼写正确。你本来是哪里人？是的，有个小东西，但我不知道怎么打出来。你本来是哪里人？就在这里。巴黎人。你最喜欢的食物是什么？咖啡。是的，C-O-N-F-I-T。我知道，这很高级。你有宠物吗？没有。你小时候有养宠物吗？你养的是什么宠物？一只猫，名字是？你得拼一下。一只叫Pistachio的猫。Pistach，加个E，P-I-S-T-A-C-H-E。对，Pistach。有没有那个小东西？没有小东西。好的。你是右撇子还是左撇子？你是右撇子，对吧。好的，我们有一些信息了。

Watch this. Please write a C-Shanty about Francois. Now gather round me, Hardy's Bold. I'll tell the tale so grand and old of Francois from Paris town whose adventures will astound. That's great. What else? Oh, Francois, a man so fine with a cat named Pistach. Were they intertwined? He sailed the seas with the spirit high, a true sailor reaching for the sky. That's very good. All right.

看着这个。请为弗朗索瓦写一首水手歌谣。现在大家围过来，哈迪勇士们。我将讲述一个宏伟而古老的故事，关于来自巴黎镇的弗朗索瓦，他的冒险经历会让你惊叹。这很好。还有呢？哦，弗朗索瓦，是一个如此优秀的人，有一只名叫开心果的猫。他们是否亲密无间？他高昂着士气航行在海上，是一个真正追寻天空的水手。这非常好。好的。

I would like to play a little game with you. All right. Thank you so much for volunteering. I have here an envelope that's still going. This is a long C-shirt. Raise your voices. Sing his praise. Okay. I have a. This is my prediction envelope. We'll come back to this in just a little bit. I'm going to put this right here. Okay. Francois, we're going to play a game of which hand? I have a coin here. Okay. In a moment, you're going to put it behind your back and you're going to put it in one of your two fists. Okay. But let me add another layer here. Can you please think of your favorite color? Anything.

我想和你玩一个小游戏。好的，非常感谢你自愿参加。我这里有一个信封，这还在进行中。这是一件长款的C衬衫。提高你的声音，唱出他的赞美。好了，我这里有一个。这是我的预测信封。我们等会儿再回来讨论这个。我会把它放在这里。好的，弗朗索瓦，我们要玩一个“在哪只手”的游戏。我这里有一枚硬币。稍后，你会把它放在背后，然后放在你的一只拳头里。但是让我再增加一层，请你想一下你最喜欢的颜色。任何颜色都可以。

What do you have? Tell me, please. Sorry? Blue. And then think of another color. Anything, really? Anything. Go ahead and tell me. Okay. Blue and red. That's perfect. Great. Can you please come forward with your two hands, put the coin in one of them? If the coin is in your left hand, I want you to think of blue. And if it's in your right hand, I want you to think of red and let that color just rise up throughout you and project it into the room as I type in a chat GPT.

你有什么？请告诉我。什么？蓝色。然后再想一个颜色。任何颜色都可以？真的，任何颜色都可以。好吧，蓝色和红色。太好了，完美。请你过来，把硬币拿在其中一只手上。如果硬币在你的左手，我希望你想蓝色。如果在你的右手，我希望你想红色，让这个颜色充满你并投射到房间里，就像我在聊天 GPT 中输入一样。

The SWA has hidden a coin in one of two hands. I've assigned the left hand, the color blue, and the right hand, the color red. Which hand has the coin? Let's see what chat GPT says. As an AI language model, I can't exactly determine what happens in the physical world, but based on the information provided, Francois would likely hide the coin in the blue hand and are you thinking of blue? Yes indeed, Joe, everybody, the blue hand has the coin. Very nice. Okay.

SWA在两只手中藏了一枚硬币。我把左手标记为蓝色，右手标记为红色。哪只手有硬币呢？让我们看看Chat GPT怎么说。作为一个AI语言模型，我无法确切知道现实世界里发生了什么，但根据提供的信息，Francois可能会把硬币藏在蓝色手里。你在想蓝色吗？是的，Joe，大家伙，蓝色手里有硬币。很好。OK。

Yeah. Now, of course that could just be 50-50, right? So let's try it again. Would you put it behind your back again? And could you please name for me any animal you like? Any animal? A cat. A cat. Good. And then maybe something completely different, like from the zoo or a lion. Wonderful. Would you please come out with your two fists again? Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Don't put it in your back pocket. I've. Okay. Yes, okay. Okay. Okay.

好的。那当然，这可能只是五五开，对吧？所以我们再试一次。你能把它放到背后吗？然后请你随便说一个你喜欢的动物，可以吗？任何动物都行。一只猫。很好。然后再说一个完全不同的，比如动物园里的动物或者一只狮子。太好了。请你再把双手握拳伸出来好吗？哦，好的。继续，不要把它放进后兜里。我已经……好的，好吧。

So just like before, I want you to think, all right? If the coin is in your right hand, I want you to think of cat. If it's in your left hand, I want you to think of lion, all right? I want the spirit of this animal to take over. Now don't jump up and down, okay? But let the spirit project that animal into the room. And here we are. And the swa is hiding a coin in one of his two hands. I've assigned the right hand, the cat, and the left hand, the lion, which hand has the coin. And chat GPT says, based on the information provided for en swa, would hide the coin in the lion hand? Are you thinking of lion? Would you show everybody the lion hand?

就像之前那样，我希望你能思考一下，好吗？如果硬币在你的右手里，我希望你想象成猫。如果在左手里，我希望你想象成狮子，好吗？我希望你能让这只动物的精神附体。不要急着跳起来，好吗？让这个动物的精神投射到房间里。现在我们来看看，有人在他两只手中藏了一枚硬币。我们已经说好了，右手代表猫，左手代表狮子。那么硬币在哪只手里呢？而ChatGPT说，根据提供的信息，硬币会藏在狮子的那只手里。你是在想象狮子吗？能把代表狮子的那只手给大家看看吗？

Look at that. Two for two. That's good. That's good. Let's try one more time. How about fruit and vegetables? Go ahead and name two. Two things. Anything you like. What was the first one? Apple and strawberry. Yeah. It's. My French is not very good. Okay. Apple and strawberry. Wonderful. Okay. Come out like this. All right. So if the coin is in your right hand, I want you to think of apple. If it's in your left hand, I want you to think of strawberry. And I want you to think about what that fruit tastes like. All right? And really project that feeling into the room as I type here, French swa, has a coin in one of his hands. I've assigned apple to the right hand and strawberry to the left, which hand has the coin? And chat, GPT says. Based on the previous information, Francois would likely hide the coin in the apple hand. Were you thinking of apple? You don't look very happy about this, but show everybody that you were thinking of apple and it's in the apple hand. It is indeed right there. Very nice. Good, good, good. Okay.

看看这个，两个都对了。很好。很好。我们再试一次。我们来谈谈水果和蔬菜？随便说两个。你喜欢什么都可以。第一个是什么？苹果和草莓。好，我的法语不是很好。好，苹果和草莓。太好了。好，像这样出来。如果硬币在你的右手里，我希望你想象苹果。如果在你的左手里，我希望你想象草莓。我希望你想象一下那个水果的味道，好吗？并且把那个感觉传递到这个房间里。当我打字的时候，法国的某某（French swa）手里有一枚硬币。我已经把右手分配为苹果，左手分配为草莓，硬币在哪只手里？聊天机器人 GPT 说：根据之前的信息，Francois 可能会把硬币藏在苹果手里。你在想着苹果吗？你看起来不太高兴，但向大家展示一下你正在想着苹果，而且硬币就在苹果手里。真的就在这里。非常好。很好。

Now chat, GPT just had all the fun. So now it's my turn to try to have a little deduction here. So I would like you please in a moment, think of a country. Don't say it out loud. There are nearly 200 countries in the world you're going to think of a country. You got one? Okay. Okay. Look right here. Look right here. Okay. And let's see. So it's apple. All right. All right. Okay. I have an idea. Yes or no? Is it Cuba? No, it's not, but that's okay. Good. All right. Interesting. I did not get the country initially, but I am going to ask chat GPT a few more questions to see if it can make some deductions here about what you're thinking. All right. So let's do this. Name a musician from 1890. Born. Born. Name a musician born in 1899.

现在，聊天的是GPT，而我也想试试自己的推理能力。待会儿，请你想一个国家，不要说出来。全世界有近200个国家，你准备好了吗？ 好的。好的。请看这里，看这里。嗯，让我们看看。是苹果。 好的。好的。我有个想法。是或者不是，这是古巴吗？不是，但没关系。好的，很有趣。我没能一开始就猜中国家，但我会再问GPT几个问题，看看它能不能做出一些推理。好了，那我们开始吧。说出一个在1890年出生的音乐家。对不起，说错了，说一个在1899年出生的音乐家。

How about this? A world leader born in AD, I'm going to go way back, AD 37. An athlete from 1942 and a writer, let's do a British writer from 1865. Here we are. Certainly. Here are the individuals. Musician born in 1899, Duke Ellington, very good. A Roman emperor born in AD 37, Nero. An athlete born in 1942, Muhammad Ali born Cassius Clay. And for the British writer, good born in 1865, Rudyard Kipling. Do these people from history mean anything to you? No, but that's okay. That's okay. They will in just a minute because I had a prediction before in this envelope. And I'm going to show you now what it says. I will not get the country initially. Thank you very much. No. This initially is a double entendre. How's my French? Entendre. Terrible, right? Entendre. Okay. It means two things. Initially, let's go back to chat GPT. This list, the initials of the people I just asked about. Are you ready? What was the country you were thinking of before? Denmark. Watch this. Chachi BT says, Duke Ellington, D E Nero, and Muhammad Ali, M A, and Rudyard Kipling, R K, that's D E N M A R K, that's Denmark. Let's give Francois a big round of applause. Thank you so much, Natsibokyu. Thank you. That was fun and magical. Thank you so much.

那这个怎么样？一个公元37年出生的世界领袖，一个1942年的运动员，还有一个英国作家，选一个1865年的。那么就这样吧。当然。以下是这些人。1899年出生的音乐家，杜克·艾灵顿，非常好。公元37年出生的罗马皇帝尼禄。1942年出生的运动员穆罕默德·阿里，原名卡修斯·克莱。而英国作家，就是1865年出生的拉迪亚德·吉卜林。这些历史人物对你有任何意义吗？没有，但没关系。没关系。它们马上就会有意义，因为我在这个信封里有一个预言。现在我要告诉你它写了什么。我一开始不会得到这个国家名字。非常感谢。不，这个“initially”是一个双关语。我的法语怎么样？“Entendre”。很糟糕，对吧？“Entendre”。好吧，这个词有两个意思。我们回到Chat GPT。这个列表，我刚刚提到的这些人的名字首字母。准备好了吗？你刚才想到的国家是什么？丹麦。看这个。Chat GPT说，杜克·艾灵顿，D E，尼禄，N，穆罕默德·阿里，M A，拉迪亚德·吉卜林，R K，这就是D E N M A R K，丹麦。让我们为弗朗索瓦热烈鼓掌。非常感谢，谢谢。这很有趣也很神奇。谢谢。

And that leads us back to wonder. We said at the beginning that wonder was questioning what is possible. And here's the thing. It's the questioning that's important. The pillars of creation, those unthinkably vast clouds of stardust. They existed long before us and they'll exist long after. And they are beautiful because we are lucky enough to be able to gaze upon them. Their beauty is in our seeing. When we approach the world with wonder, it's not the answers that we find that ultimately give our lives, meaning it is the questions. The meaning is in our asking. Because any technology, no matter how exciting or novel or sophisticated, is meaningless without the human beings at the center. We and we alone have the unique privilege to look with fresh eyes, to ask the bigger question. So look, ask, do not let go to waste the gift that we alone possess, our capacity for wonder. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

这将我们带回对“奇迹”的思考。我们一开始说，奇迹是对什么是可能的提出疑问。实际上，重要的是提出疑问的过程。创世之柱，那些无法想象的巨大星尘云，在我们出现之前就已经存在，而在我们之后也会继续存在。我们有幸能够欣赏它们的美丽，而它们的美丽就在于我们能够看见。当我们以好奇的心态看待世界，最终给予我们生命意义的，不是找到的答案，而是提出的问题。意义在于我们提问的过程。因为任何技术，无论多么令人兴奋、新颖或复杂，如果没有人类作为核心，都是没有意义的。只有我们，人类，享有独特的特权，用新的视角去看待世界，提出更大的问题。所以，请观察，请提问，不要浪费我们独有的天赋，我们对奇迹的感知能力。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。谢谢。版