机: The Character Behind Machines and the Human Mind

The secret to the crossbow’s power mainly lies in its firing mechanism, or trigger, 機 (jī), a character that first appeared over 2,000 years ago. The character itself offers clues to the crossbow’s construction: The 木 (mù) radical indicates what the crossbow was mostly made of—wood. Meanwhile, the phonetic component on the right, 幾 (jī), consists of two 幺 (yāo) characters, representing the crossbow’s small components, and a 人 (rén), the “person” it was designed to be used by, alongside a 戈 (gē), a preexisting weapon. While 機’s pronunciation has remained the same, its meaning has evolved with time, as has its written form, which was simplified in the 1950s to the homonym 机, a character originally denoting the alder tree.

Throughout history, 机 has been used to designate machines of all kinds, from ancient cloth-weaving looms (织机 zhījī) and modern-day printers (印刷机 yìnshuājī) and computers (计算机 jìsuànjī), literally “calculating machines,” to 手机 (shǒujī, cellphone), “hand machines,” 飞机 (fēijī, airplane), “flying machines,” and 机器人 (jīqìrén, robots), “machine person.” Collectively, these are known as 机器 (jīqì), “machines and devices,” or 机械 (jīxiè), “appliances.”

Given the importance of the trigger mechanism to the ancient crossbow’s function, 机 later came to mean “key” or “crucial moment.” For instance, crisis is 危机 (wēijī), “dangerous moment,” while if the situation takes a “turn” for the better, it can be said to 转机 (zhuǎnjī). The latter often relies on a person’s astuteness when it comes to seizing the opportune moment 时机 (shíjī) or 机会 (jīhuì, chance), as captured by the saying: “Chance favors the prepared mind (机会总是留给有准备的人 Jīhuì zǒngshì liúgěi yǒu zhǔnbèi de rén).” Otherwise, one may let the opportunity slip (坐失良机 zuòshī liángjī) without even knowing.

It’s understandable then that secrets are a “hidden mechanism” (机密 jīmì) as to how something might work. In contrast, to rebuff others’ prying, we can say 天机不可泄露 (tiānjī bù kě xièlòu), “One must not give away a heavenly secret,” an idiom that originated from ancient people’s belief that everything under the sun is destined, and to reveal a secret may incur endless trouble.

机 can also be used to describe the traits of human beings, such as 机灵 (jīling), clever or smart, 机敏 (jīmǐn), alert and resourceful, and 机智 (jīzhì), quick-witted. It can also refer to our ideas: A motive to do something is 动机 (dòngjī), while 心机 (xīnjī), meaning “calculating” or “scheming,” is often used pejoratively.

Over the past several decades, especially following AI program AlphaGo’s defeat of the South Korean Go master Lee Sedol in 2016, the line between machines and humans has become increasingly blurred. Today, there’s growing concern that AI will soon replace many of our jobs or unleash even worse outcomes. While the future is uncertain, it would be wise for us to guard against such negative outcomes by using the same AI tools that threaten to usurp us. As such, in this ever-changing world, the 10th-century military saying from the Old Book of Tang (《旧唐书》), “Speed is precious in war; time lost will never be regained (兵贵神速，机不可失 Bīng guì shénsù, jībùkěshī),” may be our best course of action.