勇者行动

书名：天国的阶梯|作者：笑无语|本书类别：古言|更新时间：13:49:30|字数：3896字

一 | 　　今年国际上发生的两件大事：伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊遇袭身亡；委内瑞拉总统马杜罗被美军强行控制。

二 |

Zhou Jiang speaks at an event. Photo: Courtesy of Zhou Jiang
Zhou Jiang, a researcher at the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, has a favorite book: White Deer Tableland or Bai Lu Yuan by renowned writer Chen Zhongshi.
As vice president of the Regional Science Association of China (RSAC), Zhou told the Global Times that a lifetime of reading has profoundly shaped the way he sees and understands the world. It ultimately led him to a career in research and academia, where he teaches and pursues scholarly work.
Since earning his PhD in economics in 2000, he has devoted himself to the study of regional science and economics, a field that demands a constant crossing of disciplinary boundaries, drawing on the fields of geography, sociology, history, and ecology among others.
"Reading has kept alive my sense of curiosity and taught me to ask questions with patience and persistence: Where do disparities in regional development come from? How do policies affect different groups in society? And how can a region pursue both efficiency and equity so that development is not merely effective, but also imbued with a greater sense of humanity and warmth?" Zhou noted.
Founded in 1991, RSAC is a national academic society dedicated to advancing domestic and international academic exchange and cooperation, providing consulting services on spatial planning, urbanization, and regional development, and offering intellectual support for China's modernization drive.
The 57-year-old researcher noted that reading has empowered him in two distinct ways.
"The first is discernment. When confronted with a complex issue, I try not to settle for a simple conclusion. Instead, I make an effort to understand its broader context, how it has unfolded, and the perspectives of the different people involved," he said.
"The second is a sense of inner steadiness. Setbacks are an inevitable part of both life and work. Good books remind us that hardship is never ours alone to bear; countless people before us have faced circumstances more difficult than our own, made difficult choices, and found the strength to carry on. Reading cannot solve every problem for us, but it can help us remain calm when challenges arise, giving us the clarity and resilience that allow us not to panic or give up too easily," he said.
Historical depth

Each time Zhou returns to the White Deer Tableland, he finds something different in its pages.
"When I first read it as a young person, I was drawn primarily to the characters and the twists and turns of their lives. Later, as I began researching regional economics, I found myself paying closer attention to the changes in the land, the countryside, families and social order presented in the story. Now, approaching 60, I have come to appreciate more deeply the choices the characters make, the constraints they face, and the quiet perseverance they show amid the sweeping currents of their times," he said.
White Deer Tableland uses Bai Lu village in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province as a microcosm, tracing the feuds and intertwined fortunes of three generations of the Bai (literally meaning white) and Lu families. Through their stories, it captures more than half a century of sweeping historical change, from the final years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the 1970s and 1980s. The novel won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of China's top literature awards, in 1997.
Zhou prefers literary works with historical depth and a keen eye for social change.
Regional economics may appear to be concerned with the spatial distribution of industries, population and resources, but at its heart, it is about how people live on a particular piece of land, and why some places flourish while others decline, he noted.
In this sense, literature and history are more than pastimes beyond professional research. They often help him understand the historical context, cultural traditions and social mentality that lie behind economic data, he said.
When reading novels, Zhou said that he often pays close attention to the relationship between people and the places they inhabit: How the land shapes the local character, how transportation transforms a region, and how shifts in industry reshape families and villages. Such details may not offer a direct conclusion, but they broaden a researcher's perspective. They also serve as a reminder that research should look beyond growth rates and statistical indicators to consider the sense of fulfillment experienced by ordinary people and the dignity of human beings.
Understanding ourselves
Once, while tidying his study, he came across a book filled with notes he had scribbled in his early years. Among them was a question that particularly caught his attention: "In the face of sweeping changes in the times and profound social transformation, what can a person truly determine for himself?"
Looking at those words he had written in his youth was like coming face to face with the person he had been decades ago.
Reading is not simply the act of understanding a book; it is also a record of a person's own growth, he said. The same book can reveal something entirely different when read at different stages of life.
When we are young, we turn to books in search of answers; but when we become seasoned, we read more to understand life, to understand others, and ultimately, to better understand ourselves, Zhou said.
In this era of fragmented information, AI can help people access information quickly, organize materials, and gain a basic understanding of unfamiliar fields. Yet deep reading, Zhou said, allows people to see how a conclusion is reached — what evidence supports it, where its boundaries lie, and what alternative interpretations it may invite.
What truly shapes a person, after all, is not how much information they have browsed, but the words that have made them pause and reflect - and the words that have remained with them for many years, he added.
。据外媒报道，美军在上述行动中都使用了人工智能。　　然而，短短数月时间，五角大楼却被AI搞得焦头烂额。　　据《纽约时报》报道，7月中旬，美国空军向各大军事承包商发出了一封措辞十分严厉的信函，要求他们在9月1日前，必须彻底清除掉所有武器和控制系统软件中Anthropic公司的人工智能产品，否则将面临终止所有五角大楼业务的风险。　　然而，近日，承包商们又收到了一封撤回令，信中称：“他们可以，至少目前可以，无视先前关于清除Anthropic产品的指令。”　　一个月内，禁令下达又撤回。到底用不用AI？军事承包商心里没数，下达命令的五角大楼心里也没数。

三 | 　　这场混乱的源头，要从五角大楼和Anthropic的纠葛说起。去年这家公司和OpenAI、谷歌等一起拿下了五角大楼的军事AI合同。　　但Anthropic坚持要保留美军使用的AI模型中的限制，而美军拒绝被一家私企凌驾到自己头上，于是今年2月底，五角大楼正式将该公司列为“供应链风险”，终止了其2亿美元的国防合同。　　有已离职的美国高级官员称，当时美国政府正在用该公司的大模型进行关键测试，停止使用相当于“单方面解除武装”。

四 | 　　布伦南司法中心的研究报告显示，自2016年以来，美国国防部已经拨款至少750亿美元给人工智能驱动的项目。实际应该会更高，因为很多机密项目的投入经费无法被统计。

五 | 　　美国花如此大价钱在军事AI上，得到的回报却不尽如人意。　　五角大楼的旗舰AI项目“Maven计划”，即用AI分析卫星和无人机影像、快速锁定轰炸目标，在实际战场上的表现远没有宣传中的那样神奇。　　数据显示，Maven的算法在天气良好的情况下识别坦克的准确率约为60%，而在恶劣天气或能见度差等不利条件下，这一准确率将会骤降至30%。　　这意味着即使有天时地利，用AI来打击目标，10次里也只有6次能成功。　　有多家外媒报道分析，美以伊冲突中美军误炸当地小学造成160多名儿童死亡的惨剧，正是因为美军AI调用的攻击目标坐标来自十多年未更新的旧数据库，而这所小学所处的位置在十多年前是伊朗海军基地。