外国文学研究 ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (1): 28-45.

• 中外学者对话:石黑一雄研究(栏目主持人:尚必武) • 上一篇    下一篇

机器能否替代人类?——《克拉拉与太阳》中的机器人叙事与伦理选择

尚必武   

  • 出版日期:2022-02-25 发布日期:2022-04-29
  • 作者简介:尚必武,上海交通大学长聘教授,教育部青年长江学者,欧洲科学院外籍院士,主要从事叙事学、文学伦理学、当代英美小说研究。
  • 基金资助:
    国家社科基金重大项目“当代西方叙事学前沿理论的翻译与研究”(17ZDA281)

Can Machines Replace Humans?: Robotic Narrative and Ethical Choice in Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun

Shang Biwu   

  • Online:2022-02-25 Published:2022-04-29
  • About author:Shang Biwu is Professor of English at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Shanghai 200240, China), a Changjiang Youth Scholar, and a Foreign Member of Academia Europaea. He is mainly engaged in the studies of narratology, Ethical Literary Criticism and contemporary English and American fiction. Email: biwushang@sjtu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    “Study and Translation of Contemporary Western Narrative Theory” (17ZDA281) sponsored by the National Social Science Fund of China

内容摘要: 在新作《克拉拉与太阳》中,石黑一雄巧妙地将图灵测试的经典命题“机器能否思考?”改写成“机器能否替代人类?”如何解读和评价机器人克拉拉拒绝替代人类的行为,成为学界在讨论该部小说时无法绕过的一个重要话题。从某种程度上来说,克拉拉之所以拒绝替代人类,主要受到其伦理顿悟的影响,即她意识到无法触及的“人心”是人与机器之间的一个重要差异。乔西的“人心”并不单纯是指她身体上的某个器官,而是指所有爱她的人在心中对其难以取代的感情。经历伦理顿悟后的克拉拉拒绝替代乔西,以积极的行动者姿态,竭尽所能拯救其于死亡的边缘,为人类对自身以及对非人类所理应承担的伦理责任提供了道德警示。由是说来,“机器能否替代人类?”并非是一个有待机器人回答的问题,而是一个人类在人工智能时代所必须应对的问题。对该问题的回答不仅是一个科学选择,更是一个伦理选择。

关键词: 《克拉拉与太阳》, 石黑一雄, 人工智能, 机器人, 伦理选择

Abstract: In his most recent work, Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro modifies, tactfully, the classic question about the Turing Test from “Can machines think?” to “Can machines replace humans?” How to understand and interpret the refusal by the robot, Klara, to replace humans has become a key issue that no scholar could avoid in discussing this novel. In a sense, Klara's refusal is largely effected by her ethical epiphany, namely, her recognition that the unreachable “human heart” draws the fundamental difference between humans and machines. The “human heart” of Josie does not merely refer to the organ in her body, but rather accentuates the irreplaceable affections for Josie in the hearts of those who love her. In the wake of her ethical epiphany, Klara refuses to substitute Josie, plays an active role of “nonhuman actor,” and tries every means possible to keep Josie alive, thus delivering a moral warning about the ethical responsibilities that both humans and non-humans ought to bear. To some extent, “Can machines replace humans?” is not an issue for robots to deal with, but instead a problem for humans to confront and resolve. And its solution is not just a scientific choice, but rather an ethical one.

Key words: Klara and the Sun, Ishiguro, artificial intelligence, robot, ethical choice

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