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Yesterday — 14 December 2025Main stream

Abraham Quintanilla Jr., Music Producer and Father of Selena, Dies at 86

14 December 2025 at 05:33
As a teenager, he hoped to make it big in the Tejano music world. He realized that dream through his daughter.

© Paul Iverson/Associated Press

Abraham Quintanilla Jr. in 2017. With his daughter Selena doing vocals, he turned his small family band into a Grammy-winning act, and Selena became known as the queen of Tejano music.
Before yesterdayMain stream

为什么训练 Claude 要用欧陆哲学?模型背后的哲学家「解密」

By: Selina
13 December 2025 at 20:45

在硅谷争分夺秒的代码竞赛中,Anthropic 似乎是个异类。当其他大模型还在比拼算力和跑分时,Claude 的开发者们却在思考一个看似「虚无缥缈」的问题:如果一个用户跟 AI 谈论形而上学,AI 该不该用科学实证去反驳?

这个问题的答案,藏在 Claude 神秘的「系统提示词(System Prompt)」里,更源于一位特殊人物的思考——Amanda Askell,Anthropic 内部的哲学家。

用「大陆哲学」防止 AI 变成杠精

经常用 AI 的人都知道,大模型在与用户对话前,都会先阅读一段「系统提示词」,这个步骤不会对用户显示,而是模型的自动操作。这些提示词规定了模型的行为准则,很常见,不过在 Claude 的提示词中,竟要求模型参考「欧陆哲学(Continental Philosophy)」。

欧陆哲学是啥?为什么要在一个基于概率和统计的语言模型里,植入如此晦涩的人文概念?

先快速科普一下:在哲学界,长期存在着「英美分析哲学」与「欧陆哲学」的流派分野。分析哲学像一位严谨的科学家,注重逻辑分析、语言清晰和科学实证,这通常也是程序员、工程师乃至 AI 训练数据的默认思维模式——非黑即白,追求精确。

而欧陆哲学(Continental Philosophy,源于欧洲大陆,所以叫这个名字)则更像一位诗人或历史学家。它不执着于把世界拆解成冷冰冰的逻辑,而是关注「人类的生存体验」、「历史语境」和「意义的生成」。它承认在科学真理之外,还有一种关乎存在和精神的「真理」。

作为 Claude 性格与行为的塑造者,Anthropic 公司内部的「哲学家」Amanda Askell 谈到了置入欧陆哲学的原因。她发现如果让模型过于强调「实证」和「科学」,它很容易变成一个缺乏共情的「杠精」。

「如果你跟 Claude 说:‘水是纯粹的能量,喷泉是生命的源泉’,你可能只是在表达一种世界观或进行哲学探索,」Amanda 解释道,「但如果没有特殊的引导,模型可能会一本正经地反驳你:‘不对,水是 H2O,不是能量。’」。

引入「大陆哲学」的目的,正是为了帮助 Claude 区分「对世界的实证主张」与「探索性或形而上学的视角」。通过这种提示,模型学会了在面对非科学话题时,不再机械地追求「事实正确」,而是能够进入用户的语境,进行更细腻、更具探索性的对话。

这只是一个例子,Claude 的系统提示词长达 14000token,里面包含了很多这方面的设计。在 Lex Fridman 的播客中 Amanda 提到过,她极力避免 Claude 陷入一种「权威陷阱」。她特意训练 Claude 在面对已定论的科学事实时(如气候变化)不搞「理中客」(both-sidesism),但在面对不确定的领域时,必须诚实地承认「我不知道」。这种设计哲学,是为了防止用户过度神话 AI,误以为它是一个全知全能的神谕者。

代码世界的异乡人

在一众工程师主导的 AI 领域,Amanda Askell 的背景显得格格不入,可她的工作和职责却又显得不可或缺。

翻开她的履历,你会发现她是一位货真价实的哲学博士。她在纽约大学(NYU)的博士论文研究的是极其硬核的「无限伦理学(Infinite Ethics)」——探讨在涉及无限数量的人或无限时间跨度时,伦理原则该如何计算。简单地说,在有无数种可能性的情况下,人会怎么做出道德决策。

这种对「极端长远影响」的思考习惯,被她带到了 AI 安全领域:如果我们现在制造的 AI 是未来超级智能的祖先,那么我们今天的微小决策,可能会在未来被无限放大。

在加入 Anthropic 之前,她曾在 OpenAI 的政策团队工作。如今在 Anthropic,她的工作被称为「大模型絮语者(LLM Whisperer)」,不断不断地跟模型对话,传闻说她是这个星球上和 Claude 对话次数最多的人类。

很多 AI 厂商都有这个岗位,Google 的 Gemini 也有自己的「絮语者」,但这个工作绝不只是坐在电脑前和模型唠嗑而已。Amanda 强调,这更像是一项「经验主义」的实验科学。她需要像心理学家一样,通过成千上万次的对话测试,去摸索模型的「脾气」和「形状」。她甚至在内部确认过一份被称为 「Soul Doc」(灵魂文档)的存在,那里面详细记录了 Claude 应有的性格特征。

不只是遵守规则

除了「大陆哲学」,Amanda 给 AI 带来的另一个重要哲学工具是「亚里士多德的美德伦理学(Virtue Ethics)」。

在传统的 AI 训练中(如 RLHF),工程师往往采用功利主义或规则导向的方法:做对了给奖励,做错了给惩罚。但 Amanda 认为这还不够。她在许多访问和网上都强调,她的目标不是训练一个只会死板遵守规则的机器,而是培养一个具有「良好品格(Character)」的实体。

「我们会问:在 Claude 的处境下,一个理想的人会如何行事?」Amanda 这样描述她的工作核心。

这就解释了为什么她如此关注模型的「心理健康」。在访谈中,她提到相比于稳重的 Claude 3 Opus,一些新模型因为在训练数据中读到了太多关于 AI 被批评、被淘汰的负面讨论,表现出了「不安全感」和「自我批评漩涡」。

如果 AI 仅仅是遵守规则,它可能会在规则的边缘试探;但如果它具备了「诚实」、「好奇」、「仁慈」等内在美德,它在面对未知情境时(例如面对「我会被关机吗」这种存在主义危机时),就能做出更符合人类价值观的判断,而不是陷入恐慌或欺骗。

这是不是一种把技术「拟人化」的做法?算得上是,但这种关注并非多余。正如她在播客中所言,她最担心的不是 AI 产生意识,而是 AI 假装有意识,从而操纵人类情感。因此,她刻意训练 Claude 诚实地承认自己没有感觉、记忆或自我意识——这种「诚实」,正是她为 AI 注入的第一项核心美德。

Amanda 在访谈结束时,提到了她最近阅读的书——本杰明·拉巴图特的《当我们不再理解世界》。这本书由五篇短篇小说组成,讲述了「毒气战」的发明者弗里茨·哈伯、「黑洞理论」的提出者卡尔·史瓦西、得了肺结核的埃尔温·薛定谔以及天才物理学家沃纳·海森堡等一大批科学巨匠,如何创造出了对人类有巨大价值的知识与工具,却同时也眼看着人类用于作恶。

这或许是当下时代最精准的注脚:随着 AI 展现出某种超越人类认知的,我们熟悉的现实感正在瓦解,旧有的科学范式已不足以解释一切。

在这种眩晕中,Amanda Askell 的工作本身,就是一个巨大的隐喻。她向我们证明,当算力逼近极限,伦理与道德的问题就会浮上水面,或早或晚。

作为一名研究「无限伦理学」的博士,Amanda 深知每一个微小的行动,都有可能在无限的时间中,逐渐演变成巨大的风暴。这也是为什么,她会把艰深的道德理论,糅合进一一行提示词,又小心翼翼地用伦理去呵护一个都没有心跳的大语言模型。

这看起来好像是杞人忧天,但正如她所警示的:AI 不仅是工具,更是人类的一面镜子。在技术狂飙突进、我们逐渐「不再理解世界」的时刻,这种来自哲学的审慎,或许是我们在面对未知的技术演化时,所能做出的最及时的努力。

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Saturday Mac riddles 338

By: hoakley
13 December 2025 at 17:00

Here are this weekend’s Mac riddles to entertain you through family time, shopping and recreation.

1: The first macOS from the mountains around Tahoe.

2: The eighth came from the App Store with Mission Control and a mane.

3: The sixth came with a time machine and spots.

To help you cross-check your solutions, or confuse you further, there’s a common factor between them.

I’ll post my solutions first thing on Monday morning.

Please don’t post your solutions as comments here: it spoils it for others.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Valued at $800 Billion, as It Prepares to Go Public

By: Ryan Mac
13 December 2025 at 08:55
A sale of insider shares at $421 a share would make Mr. Musk’s rocket company the most valuable private company in the world, as it readies for a possible initial public offering next year.

© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

The SpaceX launchpad in South Texas in June 2024. The company said in a letter to employees on Friday that it could go public in 2026.

F.D.A. Approves Two New Drugs to Treat Gonorrhea

13 December 2025 at 06:34
The sexually transmitted disease has become increasingly resistant to existing antibiotics.

© Science Photo Library/Science Source

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium that causes gonorrhea.

Phil Upchurch, Jazz Guitarist and Sideman to Stars, Dies at 84

13 December 2025 at 06:03
A self-taught session man extraordinaire, he played with a constellation of stars, including Michael Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Khan and Dizzy Gillespie.

© Frans Schellekens/Redferns via Getty Images

Phil Upchurch in 1983, playing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. Although he was known for his versatility across multiple genres, he considered himself a jazz player — albeit one with his own vision.

Harvard Replaces Leader of Health Center Said to Have Focused on Palestinians

13 December 2025 at 04:54
The center at the university’s public health school was also a focus of the Trump administration after having been examined in a Harvard antisemitism report earlier this year.

© Sophie Park for The New York Times

The François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard’s public health school will have new leadership. An interim was named in the meantime.

Tech Support Scammers Stole $85,000 From Him. His Bank Refused a Refund.

12 December 2025 at 18:01
A retired lawyer lost the money in a tech support scam, a type of online fraud that is surging. Citibank said it couldn’t recover the funds, which criminals wired from inside his account.

© Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

David Welles, 87, was ensnared in a tech support scam that allowed fraudsters to take over his personal devices with remote access software. They made a wire transfer of $85,000 from his bank account.

Paramount Says Money Is No Object. Warner Bros. Isn’t Convinced.

12 December 2025 at 18:02
Larry Ellison is backstopping Paramount’s bid for Warner Brothers, but Warner Brothers is concerned that the billionaire has not provided a personal guarantee to pay.

© Evan Vucci/Associated Press

Reddit Sues Australian Government to Block Social Media Ban

12 December 2025 at 12:52
The company said the new law, which makes it illegal for children under 16 to have social media accounts, infringes on children’s rights.

© Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

School children waiting for a bus in Sydney, last month. The ban took effect on Wednesday.

Stuck in Quicksand, a Hiker in Utah Has His SOS Answered

12 December 2025 at 08:52
Austin Dirks used a Garmin satellite device to reach emergency responders, who rescued him in a remote canyon in Arches National Park.

© Daniel Brenner for The New York Times

Visitors at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, in 2024.

Can OpenAI Respond After Google Closes the A.I. Technology Gap?

12 December 2025 at 03:24
A new technology release from OpenAI is supposed to top what Google recently produced. It also shows OpenAI is engaged in a new and more difficult competition.

© Aaron Wojack for The New York Times

OpenAI’s newest technology comes after Google claimed it had topped its young competitor.

Why Oracle Is Worrying Investors About the A.I. Boom

Shares in the technology company are down as investors grow anxious that its bet on artificial intelligence, and OpenAI in particular, may not pay off.

© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Investors are increasingly linking the futures of Oracle, led by Larry Ellison, center, and SoftBank, helmed by Masa Son, left, with OpenAI, Sam Altman’s A.I. giant.

New York’s Environmental Agenda Stalls Under Kathy Hochul

11 December 2025 at 16:00
Faced with an affordability crisis and rising energy demands, Gov. Kathy Hochul has slowed progress on New York’s efforts to fight climate change.

© Cindy Schultz for The New York Times

Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York has embraced a pragmatic approach to high energy demand that some critics say has come at the cost of the state’s place at the forefront of the fight against climate change.

British Columbia Flooding Forces Hundreds to Evacuate

By: John Yoon
12 December 2025 at 05:04
The atmospheric river over the Pacific Northwest brought a deluge to British Columbia, forcing road closures and evacuations in Canada.

© CTV News

A closed road in Fraser Valley, British Columbia.

How to Fight Rising Utility Bills? Take Over the Company, Activists Say.

11 December 2025 at 07:22
A grass-roots coalition is trying to push New York State to use eminent domain to buy out Central Hudson Gas & Electric and replace it with a public authority.
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