又中又英 | Top dog | 褚簡寧

　　Large high-tech companies in many countries are spending millions of dollars to take artificial intelligence, or AI, to new levels. The race is on by countries to be the top dog in AI. America is now the top dog, but China is nipping at America’s heels. The top dog describes a person, country, or organization that is the best or the number one in a particular situation. The expression “nipping at someone heels” or “snapping at someone’s heels” used this way means being very close behind. Even though high-tech companies are spending large amounts of money to take AI to new levels, there are often setbacks in developing something new.

　　That happened recently to Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and other platforms. Meta put on a dog and pony show about its new AI-powered Ray-Ban glasses. A dog and pony show means putting on an elaborate presentation to promote a new product. Meta’s new US$800 Ray-Ban Display smart glasses use AI to power a high-resolution display directly into the lens. The glasses use cutting-edge technology that replaces the need for smartphones. The screen is in the lens and users wear a wristband to control it by simple finger movements.

　　But the dog and pony show became an embarrassment for Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg who was on stage to show how the Ray-Ban Display glasses worked. The AI of the glasses wrongly assumed ingredients of a Korean barbecue sauce. When Zuckerberg tried to answer a video call using the wristband paired with the glasses, it didn’t work. The audience laughed but Zuckerberg blamed it on faulty Wi-Fi. He chuckled and told the audience: “it’s all good.”

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　　許多國家的大型高科技企業都在花費百萬千萬元，去將人工智能AI提升至新的水平。各國已在競逐要做AI的「老大」（top dog）。美國現正是領頭人（top dog），但中國也在緊跟美國其後（nipping at America’s heels）。Top dog是形容一個人、國家又或機構在某一領域中是佼佼者，是最優秀、頂級的。習語“nipping at someone heels”或“snapping at someone’s heels”在這裏是指緊貼其後。即使高科技公司花費大量金錢去令AI更上一層樓，但要研發任何新的事物，仍然不時遇上挫折。

　　最近，這就發生在Meta身上，就是擁有臉書、WhatsApp以及其他平台的Meta。Meta就其以AI驅動的全新Ray-Ban眼鏡，上演了一場dog and pony show——a dog and pony show是指為了推廣新產品，詳細說明的一場演示。Meta那價值800美元的新Ray-Ban Display智能眼鏡，是用AI去驅動一個高解像度的顯示，直接投放於鏡片上。眼鏡運用了最先進的科技，取代使用智能電話的需求。螢幕就在鏡片上，用家會佩戴一個手環，以簡單的手指郁動就能控制畫面。

　　然而，這場炫麗的演示（dog and pony show）卻成了Meta老闆馬克．朱克伯格的難堪，他當時站在台上，要示範Ray-Ban Display怎樣操作。眼鏡的人工智能卻錯誤假定了一款韓式燒烤醬的配料。當朱克伯格嘗試用配對眼鏡的手環接聽一個視像電話時，卻接聽不了。觀眾都笑了，朱克伯格卻歸因於不完善的無綫網絡。他輕輕笑了，告訴觀眾：「一切都很好。」

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻