Can AI Preserve Your Most Precious Memories? | Pau Aleikum Garcia | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung

A year ago, I was in front of Carmen,

一年前，我站在卡门面前，

a 90-year-old woman from Barcelona.

她是一位来自巴塞罗那的 90 岁女性。

I asked her, "Carmen, what is your earliest memory?"

我问她：“卡门， 你最久远的记忆是什么？”

Now, for someone who has almost seen a century unfold,

对于已经经历了 将近一个世纪的人来说，

this can be a difficult question.

这可能是一个困难的问题。

I was half expecting her to say,

我差点以为她会说：

"Son, my earliest memory is of you asking me this question."

“孩子，我最远的记忆 就是你问我这个问题。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But the truth was that it was from 1941.

但其实她说了 1941 年的回忆。

She was six years old, and her mother would pay another family

她当时只有六岁， 她的母亲会付钱给另一个家庭，

so they could enter their house and go up to their balcony.

这样她们就能走进那一户， 走上他们家的阳台。

What was particular about that balcony was that it was facing La Modelo prison.

那个阳台的特别之处在于 它正对着拉莫德洛监狱。

During that time,

当时，

during the Spanish dictatorship in Spain,

在西班牙独裁统治期间，

it was a political prison

它是一所政治监狱，

and her father, a doctor for the antifascist front,

而她的父亲， 一位反法西斯阵线的医生，

was a prisoner there.

曾是那里的囚犯。

So the only way they could see each other

所以他们互相遥望的唯一方式

was from that balcony to the window of the prison.

就是从那个阳台看向监狱的窗户。

And that was her earliest memory of him.

那是她对他最远的记忆。

Between bars, through that street.

铁窗里，街对面。

I asked her, "Carmen, would you like to have an image of that memory?"

我问她：“卡门，你想要一张 那段记忆的照片吗？”

And she said, "Yes, of course.

她说：“当然。

I would love to show to my family what I experienced,

我很想向我的家人 展示我的经历，

the things that I went through

我经历了些什么，

so they can remember where we all come from."

这样他们可以记得 我们都是从哪里来的。”

And this is how we started this experiment,

这就是我们这个实验的开端，

trying to transform a memory into an image,

试图将记忆转化为图像，

in this case using generative AI.

在这个案例中， 我们会使用生成式 AI。

We started by creating a description of the memory,

首先，我们创建了对记忆的描述，

a prompt, to say so.

或者说一段提示词。

And then Carmen generated tens of images.

然后卡门生成了数十张图像。

You could see her going through all of them.

你可以看到她浏览了每一张。

But it was not until she saw these two images

但是直到这两张，

that something clicked in her.

她才受到触动。

She pointed at the image and said,

她指着照片说：

"Yes, this is me and my mother on the balcony.

“是的，这就是我和我妈妈在阳台上。

I can see the haircut."

就是这个发型。”

It was as if she had found something long lost.

好像她发现了丢失已久的东西一样。

From there we did something else.

从那以后，我们做了一些别的事。

We used that image as a starting point to generate a video,

我们以这张照片为起点， 生成了一个视频，

but this time,

但这次不仅展示了她和她的母亲，

not only showing her and her mother,

but also showing her father looking back at them

还展示了她的父亲 从街对面看着她们。

from the other side of the street.

When she saw it, there was a long silence.

当她看到这个视频时，沉默良久。

And later she told me that it had been a long time

后来她告诉我，她已经很久

since she had seen an image of her father.

没有看到过父亲的图像了。

And as you can see,

如你所见，

these are not factual recreations of the past.

这些并不是对过去的事实再现。

This feels a bit more like dreams, right?

感觉更像是梦，对吧？

And in fact, they are.

其实确实如此。

They are visualizations based [on] memories

它们是基于记忆的可视化呈现，

with their imperfections and undefinition.

有其缺陷和模棱两可。

That's how we discovered that blurry, undefined images

我们借此发现模糊、不清晰的图片

work much better than hyper-realistic ones

比超逼真的图片

when we are trying to reconstruct memories.

在重构回忆时效果好得多。

That's why early generative AI models

这就是为什么早期的生成式 AI 模型

work much better than the ultimate state-of-the-art ones.

比最先进的终极模型要好得多的原因。

It's not the factual accuracy that moves us

打动我们的不是事实的准确性，

but the emotional truth that we find embedded into some of these systems.

而是这些系统里嵌入的真情实感。

And we call this project Synthetic Memories.

我们将这个项目称为“合成记忆”。

It's one of the several projects we are doing at Domestic Data Streamers,

这是我们在 Domestic Data Streamers 开展的几个项目之一，

a team of researchers, designers and engineers

我们的团队包括 研究人员、 设计师和工程师，

exploring the impact that generative AI can have in society,

探索生成式 AI 可能对社会产生的影响，

going from media literacy to cultural heritage

从媒体素养到文化遗产，

and of course, memories.

当然还有记忆。

Now, memories are the architects of our identity, right?

回忆是我们身份的架构师，对吧？

Memories remind us who we are.

回忆提醒我们，我们是谁。

And visual memories are very important.

视觉记忆非常重要。

We all have a picture of someone we love

我们的钱包、手机、家里 都有我们所爱之人的照片。

in our wallet, in our phones,

in our homes.

Visual memories shape our sense of self,

视觉记忆塑造了我们的自我意识，

and they can shape our sense of belonging to a specific place.

它们可以塑造我们 对某个地方的归属感。

They can teach us things from the past.

它们可以教我们过去的事情。

And because of that,

正因为如此，

they can actually make us understand in a deeper level

它可以让我们更深入地 理解我们对事物的反应。

how we react to things.

And like organic memories,

就像在人脑中形成和存储的有机记忆，

which are formed and stored in the human brain,

synthetic memories are visual memories from a person's past

合成记忆是来自过去的视觉记忆，

which have been never documented or lost,

从未被记录或已经丢失，

and that we can now, using gen-AI,

我们现在可以使用生成式 AI

transform from a text or an oral description into an image.

将其从文本或口头描述转化为图像。

Now, there are many reasons why we can lose visual memories

我们失去视觉记忆和 记忆本身的原因有很多，

and memories itself,

but the most common one is the one that comes with aging

但最常见的原因是衰老

and diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

和阿尔茨海默症 或帕金森病等疾病。

I myself have lived through that in my family,

我本人在我的家庭中 也经历过这种情况，

and I guess many of you have had similar experiences.

我想在座很多人都有过类似的经历。

It's a terrible disease as you not only see the memories fade away,

这是一种可怕的疾病， 因为你不仅会见证记忆的消失，

but also the character and the identity of someone that you love.

你所爱之人的性格和身份也会消失。

So two years ago,

两年前，

we started to create these meetups

我们开始组织一些聚会，

to meet people from very different disciplines,

结识来自不同领域的人们，

trying to figure out how synthetic memories could be used

试图弄清楚合成记忆 在不同的社交场合中有何用处。

in different social setups.

And then I met David, a social worker in a nursing home.

然后我遇到了 一家疗养院的社会工作者大卫。

He was taking care of a group of Alzheimer’s patients

他正在照顾一群 阿尔茨海默症患者，

and he was using a therapy called reminiscence therapy.

他使用了一种 叫做“回忆疗法”的疗法。

Now, reminiscence therapy is a kind of therapy that uses music

回忆疗法是一种疗法，使用音乐

and old photographs from a person's past

和过去的老照片

to trigger these very visceral, emotional memories.

触发这些直指人心的情感记忆。

Think of it as kind of lubricating an old rusty lock,

可以把它看作是 给一把生锈的旧锁上油，

making it much easier to open the doors of certain forgotten rooms

让封存着我们脑海中某些 被遗忘的房门更容易被打开。

that we have in our head.

And it has been proven to, for certain people,

事实证明， 对于某些人来说，

help very much in the prevention of depression, of cognitive decay,

它对预防抑郁症、 认知衰退效果显著，

and in some cases, even improve cognitive abilities.

在某些情况下 甚至可以提高认知能力。

So we designed a pilot experiment

于是，我们设计了一项试点实验，

using synthetic memories within reminiscence therapy.

在回忆疗法中使用合成记忆。

And for over two months,

在两个多月的时间里，

12 patients did both individual sessions and group therapy.

有 12 名患者进行了 单独疗程和集体治疗。

And we could see a direct relation between the level of engagement

我们可以看到参与度和 他们的认知能力之间的直接关系，

and their cognitive abilities,

pointing out that this could not only be a new way of doing therapy,

表明这不仅是一种新的治疗方式，

but also it could be another way to detect early signs of cognitive decay.

也可能是发现 认知衰变早期迹象的一种方法。

Now, this image was generated with Nuria,

这张照片是由努里亚生成，

a 96-year-old woman from a nursing home.

她是一名来自疗养院的 96 岁女性。

And she was telling me about one of her favorite memories of her husband

她告诉我，她对丈夫最喜欢的回忆之一

was during Sundays,

是在星期天，

he used to read the newspaper in the living room.

他会在客厅看报纸。

And she will always play this old, jumpy gramophone with some music

她总是会用一台 破旧抽风的留声机放些音乐，

just to annoy him.

就是为了惹恼他。

When she saw the image, she was so happy her eyes [lit] up,

当她看到这张照片时， 她很高兴，两眼放光，

but after a while, she looked at me and she said,

但过了一会儿，她看着我说：

"But Pau, we have a problem here.

“但是保罗，有个问题。

This man over here is not my husband."

这个人不是我的丈夫。”

And I said, "How come?"

然后我说：“怎么会呢？”

And she said, half laughing,

然后她略带笑意地说：

“Well, my husband was much more ugly.”

“嗯，我丈夫要丑得多。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

[Proving] once again that love is not just blind,

再次证明爱情不仅是“盲目”的，

but also nearsighted.

也是近视的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

As you can see, this is far from being a cure of Alzheimer’s,

你可以看出，这远不能 治愈阿尔茨海默氏症，

but it could be a way of making the journey a bit less daunting.

但它可能是让旅程 变得不那么艰巨的一种方式。

Another patient told me

另一位病人告诉我：

"It feels a bit like finding your glasses on your head

“感觉有点像到处找眼镜， 然后发现眼镜就在头上。”

after searching for them everywhere."

It's small but very significant relief.

这是一种虽然微不足道 但成效卓著的宽慰。

And from a medical perspective,

从医学的角度来看，

it could be a new way to temporarily enhance cognitive abilities,

这可能是一种暂时 增强认知能力的新方法，

making it much easier for family members

使家庭成员和护理人员 在痛苦或离别时更轻松一些。

and caregivers in moments of distress or disconnection.

So the pilot experiment was promising enough

这项试点实验很有希望，

to partner up with the AGE-WELL network here in Canada,

与加拿大的 AGE-WELL 网络

together with researchers from the University of Toronto

以及来自多伦多大学和 不列颠哥伦比亚大学的研究人员合作。

and the University of British Columbia.

And during this summer,

今年夏天，

we will be exploring and designing an ethical framework

我们将探索和设计一个保护 家庭成员和患者的伦理框架，

to protect both family members and patients,

as well as comparing this therapy to other therapeutic interventions

并将这种疗法与 其他治疗干预措施进行比较，

and exploring how we can make it truly accessible

探索如何让全世界的家庭和机构 都能真正获取这种疗法。

for both families and institutions all over the world.

But as you can imagine, synthetic memories

但是你可以想象，合成记忆

and this project can go beyond the research on dementia.

和这个项目可以超越痴呆症的研究。

There are many other reasons why we can lose visual memories.

失去视觉记忆还有许多其他原因。

There is the loss that comes from sudden displacement due to war,

有些丧失源于战争、

政治迫害或自然灾害造成的 突然流离失所。

political persecution, or natural disasters.

Situations in which our photo albums,

我们的相册、

hard drives, phones, diaries can be lost,

硬盘、手机、日记本 可能面临丢失、

damaged or just left behind.

损坏或被遗忘的情况。

Synthetic memories is a way

合成记忆是一种方法，

to recover a part of this past heritage that have been lost

让你恢复已经丢失的 一部分过往遗产，

and that right now is at risk of being forgotten.

保护现在有风险会被遗忘的部分。

It's a new way of reconstructing a past that has been hidden to our eyes.

这是一种重建 我们看不见的过去的新方式。

Now, soon we will open the first public office

我们很快将开设第一个公共办公室，

for visual memory reconstruction in the city of Barcelona,

用于视觉记忆重建， 位于巴塞罗那市，

with the support of the city council.

在市议会的支持下开设。

The idea is to make a city-scale experiment,

我们想做一个全城范围的实验，

a place where any citizen will be able to generate their own memories,

让每一位市民都能创造自己的记忆，

to reconstruct a part of their past together in community,

在社区中共同重建他们过去的一部分，

understanding which are the subjectivities of the past

了解来自不同社区的过去 都发生了一些什么事。

from different communities.

This image was sent to me not long ago by David, the social worker,

这张图片是不久前 由社会工作者大卫发给我的，

and he did it with a dementia patient

他是和一位很长时间没有和女儿说话的 痴呆症患者一起创作的。

that for very long time had not spoken with his daughter.

They were in kind of bad terms,

他们之间的关系不太好，

and he told David that he was terrified about horses,

他告诉大卫他很害怕马，

but because his daughter loved them,

但是因为他的女儿喜欢马，

he would bring her to ride every week during her childhood.

所以在她小时候， 他每周都会带她去骑马。

And he asked David to generate this image of both of them riding

然后他请大卫生成这张他们父女

in this kind of dreamy landscape.

在这种梦幻景色中骑行的图片。

This was not a memory, this never happened.

这不是回忆，这从未发生过。

It was a remembrance.

这是一次纪念。

It was a way that he wanted to remember his daughter.

这是他想记住女儿的一种方式。

With his permission,

在他的允许下，

David sent this image to his daughter,

大卫将这张照片发给了他的女儿，

who, because of that,

由此，

after almost ten years without speaking to each other,

在将近十年没有交谈之后，

came back to Barcelona to speak back to him.

她回到了巴塞罗那和他说话。

Afterwards, she told David that when she saw the image,

之后，她告诉大卫， 当她看到这张照片时，

she realized that her father still had good memories of her.

她意识到父亲对她 还留有美好的回忆。

An image can work as a witness to the world, we know that,

我们知道，图像可以见证世界，

but it can also change the way we see it.

但它也可以改变我们看待它的方式。

We have now tools that can help us understand a time that was not ours.

我们现在有了工具，可以帮助我们 了解一个不属于我们的时代。

Experiences from others that have never been shown in images

其他人从未展现在图片里的经历，

and bridge realities that were hidden to our eyes.

还弥合了我们看不见的现实。

Montserrat Roig, a beloved Catalan writer,

深受喜爱的加泰罗尼亚作家 蒙特塞拉特·罗伊格（Montserrat Roig）

once wrote (speaking in Spanish).

曾经写过（西班牙语叙述）。

"If there is an act of love, that is to remember."

“如果有爱的行为， 那就是要铭记。”

And that is truly my hope.

这确实是我的希望。

That we all get the opportunity to love

我们都有机会以这种方式去爱和被爱。

and be loved in that way.

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）