Tag: Artificial Intelligence

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ǒurán

ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然) 👈🏼 Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

One of the publications that is now recommended to be used on Bible studies is the Yǒngyuǎn Xiǎngshòu Měihǎo de Shēngmìng—Hùdòng Shì Shèngjīng Kèchéng ((Yǒng·yuǎn Eternally · {Far (in Time)} 永远 永遠) (Xiǎng·shòu Enjoy · Receive 享受) (Měi·hǎo Beautiful · Good 美好) (de ’s 的) (Shēngmìng Life 生命)—(Hù·dòng {Each Other} · Moving → [Interactive] 互动 互動) (Shì (Type 式) (Shèng·jīng Holy · Scriptures → [Bible] 圣经 聖經) (Kè·chéng Lessons · Procedure → [Course] 课程 課程) → [Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course (lff)]) (Enjoy Life Forever! (lff)) book. This week’s MEotW, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)”, appears in the first paragraph of lesson 6 of this book:

English:

Some people think that life came from random, undirected events. If that is true, then we exist only because of an accident.

Mandarin (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus):

📖 📄 📘 Yǒuxiē (Yǒu·xiē {(there) are having → [(there) are]} · some 有些) rén (people 人) rènwéi (rèn·wéi identifying · {(it) to be} 认为 認為), shēngmìng (life 生命) shì (was 是) pèngqiǎo (pèng·qiǎo {having bumped into} · {being coincidental} → [by chance/coincidence] 碰巧) chǎnshēng (chǎn·shēng {given birth to → [produced]} · {given birth to → [caused to exist]} → [brought into being] 产生 產生) de ({’s (thing)} 的). Rúguǒ (Rú·guǒ if · {fruit → [if indeed]} 如果) zhè (this 这 這) shì (is 是) zhēn (true 真) de ({’s (thing)} 的), wǒmen de ((wǒ·men us · [pl] 我们 我們) (de ’s 的) → [our]) cúnzài (cún·zài existing · {being present} 存在) jiùshì (jiù·shì exactly · is 就是) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) ǒurán (ǒu·rán {by accident} · so (thing) → [accident] 偶然).

Idols, Accidents, and Implications

Interestingly, the first morpheme in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” is also the first morpheme in “ǒuxiàng (ǒu·xiàng idol · {(instance of) being like → [image]} 偶像)”, where it means “idol”. However, in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)”, it has an apparently unrelated meaning of “by chance” or “by accident”. (I guess one perhaps accidental connection between “idol” and “by accident” is that “by accident” is about the only way that an idol can actually do anything, unless one allows belief in an idol to influence one’s own thoughts and actions.—Psalm 115:4–8.)

The second morpheme in “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” means “so” or “like that”, and it can act like “-ly” in English, marking adverbs. Usually, then, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” means “by chance”, “accidental”, or “accidentally”. Occasionally, it can also mean “occasionally” or “incidentally”. Thus, according to dictionaries, this expression is a stative verb, an adjective, or an adverb.

In the example from the Enjoy Life Forever! book shown above, though, “ǒurán (ǒu·rán {[is] by chance/accident [→ [occasionally]]} · {so | -ly} [(thing/event/occurrence/etc.) → [accident]] 偶然)” is used as a noun. In such cases, there’s an implied “thing/event/occurrence/etc.” after this expression’s morphemes’ literal meanings of “by accident so”. This works out to “by accident so (thing/event/occurrence/etc.)”, or “accident”. In cases like this, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus material puts the implied word or words in parentheses.

A Meaningless Accident?

Was it just an accident that life came to exist? That would be the case if the claims of evolutionists are correct. Yes, spiritually, that emptiness and meaninglessness are all that evolution has to offer. In stark contrast, the Bible’s creation account speaks of an origin springing from loving intention. As the Enjoy Life Forever! book goes on to say after the passage quoted above:

If Jehovah God created life, it would have a purpose, would it not?

While many people in this world are desperately looking around for meaning from outside themselves from things like artificial general intelligence and artificial superintelligence, aliens, etc., we Mandarin field language learners have the privilege of sharing a positive, heartening, evidence-based message with the Mandarin-speaking people we meet: Jehovah God is the Divine Superintelligence who created the universe, including us, and he loves us and has a wonderful future in store for us!—Jeremiah 29:11.

For convenience:

The direct link for the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus resource for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

The short link for Chinese field language-learning links for the Enjoy Life Forever! book is:

More Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) and Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web material based on the Mandarin Enjoy Life Forever! book will be made available in the Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus web resource as time allows.

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Culture Language Learning Science Technology Theocratic

mìmì

mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

I have long especially liked 1 Corinthians 13. It contains counsel on what really does and doesn’t matter in life, an extensive description and definition of the most important kind of love, and a sublime discussion about the need to become complete, mature, as a person. As these apply to life in general, so too do they apply to our lives as Mandarin field language learners.

As Mandarin field language learners, it can benefit us greatly to consider what we can learn from 1 Corinthians 13, and along the way, we can also consider some of the Mandarin expressions used in that chapter in the current version of the Mandarin New World Translation Bible (nwtsty).

Secrets

This week’s MEotW, “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”, is used in verse 2 (WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus) of 1 Corinthians 13:

Screenshot of “mìmì” in 1 Co. 13:2 (nwtsty, CHS+_Pīnyīn_ WOL)

(Dark mode for the Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (WOL) website, as shown in the above image, can be enabled in the Safari web browser by using the Noir Safari extension.)

While the two morphemes in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)” sound the same, they are different morphemes, with different meanings. The first one, “mì ({secret (n)} [→ [secretary (abbr.)]] | {[is] secret; mysterious; difficult to understand; obscure} [→ [[is] seldom seen; rare]] | {keep sth. secret; hold sth. back} [→ [block; obstruct]] 秘 秘/祕)”, here means “secret” (used as an adjective). Interestingly, this “mì ({secret (n)} [→ [secretary (abbr.)]] | {[is] secret; mysterious; difficult to understand; obscure} [→ [[is] seldom seen; rare]] | {keep sth. secret; hold sth. back} [→ [block; obstruct]] 秘 秘/祕)” also appears in “mìshū (mì·shū secret · documents (person) → [secretary] 秘书 秘書)”, which means “secretary”, and it can be used as an abbreviation for “secretary”. (Yes, in both English and Mandarin, the word for “secretary” is based on the word for “secret”. So, be nice to office secretaries, congregation secretaries, etc. everywhere, since they are literally keepers of secrets!)

The second morpheme in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”, “mì ({[is] dense; thick} [[→ [[is] intimate; close] [→ [[is] secret; confidential]]] | [→ [[is] fine; meticulous]]] 密)”, literally means “dense; thick”, and can effectively mean “intimate; close”. (Compare the English expression “thick as thieves”.) That meaning, in turn, can effectively mean “secret” (used as an adjective), which is how it is used in “mìmì (mì·mì {[is] secret} · {[is] dense → [[is] intimate; close] → [[is] secret; confidential]} [(thing)] → [[is] secret; confidential; clandestine | secret [(thing)]] 秘密 秘/祕密)”. Another expression in which it’s used that way is “mìmǎ (mì·mǎ {dense → [intimate] → [secret]} · {sth. indicating a number} → [cipher; code | password; PIN] 密码 密碼)”, which can mean “code”. For example, the Mandarin Was Life Created? brochure uses “yíchuán (yí·chuán {leaving behind} · {passing on} → [genetic] 遗传 遺傳) mìmǎ (mì·mǎ {dense → [intimate] → [secret]} · {sth. indicating a number} → [code] 密码 密碼)” to translate “genetic code”. (Compare: English WOL, CHS+Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) WOL, Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Plus.)

Exotic East Syndrome

Speaking of secrets, some may be fascinated by the seemingly secret knowledge of the Chinese characters. However, 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that even understanding “all the sacred secrets and all knowledge” means nothing if one does not have love, and while Chinese characters may seem alluringly secret and mysterious to those looking on from outside the culture, they certainly are not sacred. Only things from God are sacred, and Chinese characters are the unnecessarily complex, haphazardly designed, highly imperfect products of mere imperfect humans.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
—1 Corinthians 13:2.

Regarding this tendency of some to exoticize Chinese characters and other aspects of Chinese culture, the MEotW post on “jī‐tóng‐yā‐jiǎng ((jī chicken 鸡 雞/鷄)‐(tóng {together with} 同 同/仝)‐(yā duck 鸭 鴨)‐(jiǎng speaking 讲 講) → [people not understanding each other because of speaking different languages (from Cantonese)])” pointed out:

Western-educated publishers learning a Chinese language may unwittingly go along with the Western worldly tendency to exoticize things related to China. (John DeFrancis, in his book The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (p. 37), calls this “Exotic East Syndrome”.) They may be content with—or even enjoy—the alluring veil of mystery and mystique surrounding certain things related to China and Chinese culture. Thus, they don’t seek to learn about and understand deeper truths about such things, that may pierce through this obscuring veil, and burst this bubble.—Compare 2 Corinthians 3:14, including the margin note.

Secrets and Identities

It is of course possible for one to have a balanced approach to Chinese characters, in which love moves one to seek to acquire whatever knowledge of characters is needed to serve effectively in the Chinese field that one is in. Many take the approach of using a system like Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) when they can, and learning to use characters when they have to. However, regarding how personally and emotionally important to them their knowledge of the secrets of Chinese characters has become to some people, the article “Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) Was Plan A” said:

In addition to those who feel that phasing out the Hànzì would be a regrettable cultural loss, I have also noticed that there are some for whom knowledge of Hànzì is a matter of pride and self-identity. They are proud of knowing the Hànzì as they do, and they view their knowledge of the Hànzì as part of what makes them who they are, as something that distinguishes them from those who don’t know the Hànzì. Such ones may defend the Hànzì to the point of irrationality in the face of a more accessible alternative that would make them and their hard-earned knowledge of Hànzì less “special”, that would threaten to render worthless all of the blood, sweat, and tears they have invested into grappling with these “Chinese puzzles”. It’s as if they are saying, “That’s not fair! If I had to go through all this bitter hard work to learn characters before I could read and write Chinese, then everyone else has to too!”

…

…during the 2014 Stanford Commencement address, Bill Gates said:

If we have optimism, but we don’t have empathy, then it doesn’t matter how much we master the secrets of science, we’re not really solving problems—we’re just working on puzzles.

Mr. Gates’ above observation applies to the subject at hand in that while many enjoy trying to solve the puzzles presented by Chinese characters, and while many also enjoy being known for being good at solving these puzzles, empathy should move us to recognize that there are much bigger issues involved than just our personal enjoyment or glorification.

Yes, when even some worldly people can recognize the above points, we Christians should recognize even more the need to show love and empathy rather than being proud, self-glorifying, self-justifying, and self-serving. Also, we should be actively and determinedly following the course of true Christian love and empathy rather than just going along with others who are proud, self-glorifying, self-justifying, and self-serving. We should especially do so when we have scriptures such as this to guide us:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.—1 Corinthians 8:1.

Love and AI

As touched on in the MEotW post on “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)”, lately there has been much discussion in the media about the recent developments in AI (artificial intelligence). AI systems can now be given access to lots and lots of human knowledge, but I don’t think anyone can reasonably claim that modern AI systems have been taught to have love the way the Bible says we need to have love. And so, many continue to worry about AIs falling out of alignment with humans and maybe even harming humans, maybe even to the point of extinction. Yes, as God’s Word pointed out long ago in 1 Corinthians 13:2, if one has much knowledge, even of secrets, but does not have love (Greek: a·gaʹpe), it is ultimately of no benefit. Indeed, without love to guide its use, that knowledge could actually be used to bring great harm!

Categories
Current Events Science Technology Theocratic

réngōng zhìnéng

réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工)
zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”

[Notes: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”; tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together of} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”. 📖 📄 📘 icons mean 📖 Reveal All, 📄 Reveal Advanced, and 📘 Reveal None re all the “flashcards” in the heading, paragraph, etc. that they are placed at the beginning of.]

At the time of this writing, jw.org was featuring the article “Artificial Intelligence—A Blessing or a Curse?—What Does the Bible Say?”. Where the English version of this article uses the expression “artificial intelligence”, the Mandarin version uses this week’s MEotW, “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)”:

English:

Recently, world leaders, scientists, and technologists have commented on the power of artificial intelligence (AI). While acknowledging its value, they have also expressed concern over its potential misuse.

Mandarin:

📖 📄 📘 Jìnqī (Jìn·qī {near → [recent]} · {period of time} → [recently] 近期), xǔduō (xǔ·duō numbers · many 许多 許多) guójiā (guó·jiā nation · family → [national] 国家 國家) lǐngdǎorén (lǐngdǎo·rén leading · persons → [leaders] 领导人 領導人), kēxuéjiā (kē·xué·jiā {{branches of study} · learning → [science]} · -ists → [scientists] 科学家 科學家), yǐjí (and 以及) kējì (kē·jì {branches of study → [science]} · {skills → [technology]} → [technology] 科技) jīngyīng (jīng·yīng elite · {flowers → [outstanding persons]} → [elite] 精英) dōu ({all of them} 都) duì (towards 对 對) réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) (AI) de (’s 的) yòngtú (yòng·tú {to be used} · routes → [applications] 用途) shēn (deeply 深) biǎo ({have expressed} 表) guānzhù (guān·zhù {closing with (them) → [being concerned about (them)]} · {pouring into (them) → [concentrating on (them)]} → [paying close attention to (them)] 关注 關注). Suīrán (Suī·rán although · -ly 虽然 雖然) tāmen (tā·men he/she · [pl] → [they] 他们 他們) dōu (all 都) zàntóng (zàn·tóng favour · {are with} → [approve of] 赞同 贊/讚同) réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能) yǒu (having 有) hěn (very 很) duō (many 多) yìchu (yì·chu beneficial · places → [benefits] 益处 益處), dàn (however 但) yě ((they) also 也) hěn ({very much} 很) dānxīn (dān·xīn {carry on shoulder poles → [bear (heavy)]} · hearts → [worry] 担/耽心 擔/耽心) zhèi (this 这 這) xiàng ({item of} 项 項) kējì (kē·jì {branches of study → [science]} · {skills → [technology]} → [technology] 科技) huì (will 会 會) bèi ([passive signifier] → [be] 被) lànyòng (làn·yòng {overflowingly → [indiscriminately]} · used → [misused] 滥用 濫用).

Related Expressions

The “zhìnéng (zhì·néng wisdom; knowledge; intelligence; resourcefulness; wit; cleverness · ability → [intelligence; intellectual power/ability | smart(phone, etc.)] 智能)” in “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)” also appears in “zhìnéng shǒujī ((zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [smart] 智能) (shǒu·jī hand · machine → [mobile phone] 手机 手機) → [smartphone])”, which is used in China to mean “smartphone”. As pointed out by the Referenced Theo. Expressions (RTE) resource, this expression appears in the November 2009 issue of Awake! magazine, on page 3.

It’s also noteworthy that the “zhì (wisdom; knowledge; intelligence; resourcefulness; wit; cleverness 智)” in “réngōng (rén·gōng human · work → [artificial] 人工) zhìnéng (zhì·néng intelligence · ability → [intelligence] 智能)” appears in “zhìhuì (zhì·huì wisdom · intelligence → [wisdom] 智慧)”, the Mandarin word for “wisdom”. It also appears in “zhōngxìn (zhōng·xìn faithful · {believing → [having faith]} → [faithful] 忠信) ruìzhì (ruì·zhì {having foresight} · {(having) wisdom} 睿智) de (’s 的) núlì (slave 奴隶 奴隸)”, the Mandarin expression for “faithful and discreet slave”.—Matthew 24:45 (English; Mandarin).

A Beginning? Or Not?

Regarding intelligence, artificial or otherwise, it’s illuminating to consider these verses in Proverbs:

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge.
Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.
—Proverbs 1:7

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,
And knowledge of the Most Holy One is understanding.
—Proverbs 9:10

To show true knowledge and wisdom—and indeed, intelligence—in life, we need to consider all the factors that are relevant in life, and we especially need to not have insufficient regard for the biggest, most relevant factor of all in life—Jehovah God, who created human intelligence (which was perfect in the first human couple, but which that couple caused to become imperfect and corrupted). Humans who do not have fear of (or “reverence for”, as per the footnote for Pr. 1:7) Jehovah—the Creator of human life and human intelligence—do not even begin to have true knowledge or wisdom, and thus are not equipped to develop artificial intelligence with true knowledge or wisdom.

Indeed, while humans can now store, read, and perform some basic processes on data, even huge amounts of data, human researchers have limited understanding about, and disagree about, how a system like the human brain or an artificial intelligence system can truly—not just appear to—know or understand something, or have wisdom (scientific paper, Medium article) about something. This may help to partly explain why a significant percentage of the time, current artificial intelligence systems output incorrect statements with complete confidence, as if they were true.

Yes, while many are now fascinated by, and/or concerned about, the increasing power of artificial intelligence, people should be focusing first on Jehovah God’s divine intelligence, the most powerful intelligence in the entire universe, that thankfully is motivated by love, guided by wisdom, and dedicated to justice.—1 John 4:8; Romans 11:33; Deuteronomy 32: 3, 4.