Are We Still Human If Robots Help Raise Our Babies? | Sarah Blaffer Hrdy | TED

翻译人员: Chung Hei Franco Cheng 校对人员: Angel Y

I guess you've already figured out.

我想你已经明白了。

Like it or not,

不管你喜不喜欢，

artificial intelligence is going to change the nature

人工智能都将改变

of human work.

人类工作的本质。

But will it change human nature?

但它会改变人性吗？

That's going to depend on what we do with it.

这将取决于我们如何处理它。

Right away,

我心中的妈妈

the mother and the grandmother in me wants to know,

和祖母马上想知道，

oh, hey, can we program robots

哦，嘿，我们可以编程机器人来帮助

to help us care for our sleep-depriving,

我们照顾睡眠不足、

time-consuming babies?

费时费力的宝宝吗？

That's before the evolutionary anthropologist in me cautions,

 在此之前，我心中的进化人类学家提醒道：

oh, shouldn't we first ask why such costly, costly,

哦，难道我们不应该先问一下 为什么会进化出这种昂贵、费钱、

slow-maturing babies evolved in the first place?

成熟缓慢的婴儿？

For that, we need to go back,

为此，我们需要追溯

oh, six million years

到六百万年前，

to when humans last shared a common ancestor with other apes.

那是人类最后一次与其他 类人猿共享共同祖先的时候。

Babies back then,

当时的宝宝，

like this common chimpanzee baby today,

就像今天这个普通的黑猩猩婴儿一样，

would have to be held in skin-to-skin contact.

必须被抱在怀里，进行肌肤接触。

Never out of touch, not for a minute of the day or night,

在出生后的几个月里， 无论白天还是黑夜，

for months after birth.

一分钟都也不能离开。

Nursed for years.

长达数年的哺育。

It just seemed natural to assume that among the bipedal apes

我们可以很自然地推测，

in the line leading to the genus Homo,

在智人属的两足类人猿中，

babies could similarly expect single-mindedly dedicated maternal care.

婴儿也同样需要母亲一心一意的照顾。

Until, that is,

也就是说，

anthropologists figured out how hard it would have been

直到人类学家才发现，面对气候

for bipedal apes with only Stone Age tools to survive

变化和其他更新世危险， 只有石器时代工具的两足类人猿

and escape extinction in the face of climate change

并逃脱灭绝的命运是多么困难

and other Pleistocene perils.

灭绝将是多么困难。

To stay fed and manage to still rear their helpless, helpless,

为了保持食物和设法抚养无助、无助、

slow-maturing babies,

成熟缓慢的婴儿，

mothers needed help.

母亲需要帮助。

Unless male and female group members

 除非母亲以外的男性

other than the mother,

和女性群体成员

allomothers, had helped to care for and provision babies

异体母亲，帮助照顾和供养婴儿，

there is no way we humans could have evolved.

否则我们人类就不可能进化。

Fortunately for us,

幸运的是，对我们来说，

as brains were getting bigger

随着我们的大脑逐渐变大，

and distinctively human prefrontal cortices were taking shape,

人类独特的前额叶皮质逐渐形成，

our ancestors were increasingly sharing food

我们的祖先也越来越多地分享食物，

and sharing care of children.

共同照顾孩子。

Neural circuits,

神经回路对相互理解至关重要，

crucial for mutual understanding,

co-evolved right along with shared care.

它与共同照顾一起进化。

Fast forward to the ever faster-changing modern world,

在日新月异的现代社会，

mothers still labor to help support their families,

母亲们依然像往常一样辛勤劳作，

as mothers always have.

帮助养家糊口。

But many no longer live in mutually supportive communities.

但是许多人不再生活在相互支持的社区中。

With kin far away

由于亲戚们都离得很远， 即使爸爸们也要帮更多的忙，

and even with dads helping more,

allomothers were in short supply.

所有的母亲都供不应求。

Good daycare, even if available,

即使有好的托儿所，也负担不起。

unaffordable.

No wonder parents everywhere use devices

难怪世界各地的父母都使用设备

to keep their babies monitored and entertained.

来监视并让他们的宝宝玩得开心。

Already, 40 percent of US two-year-olds have their own tablets.

目前，40% 的美国两岁儿童 已经拥有了自己的平板电脑。

Soon, robots will be programmed to provide a wider range of services,

不久的将来，机器人将被编程 以提供更广泛的服务，

ranging from bottle feeding to keeping babies safe, warm,

从奶瓶喂养到婴儿安全、保暖、

cleaned and even educated.

清洁甚至接受教育。

But given the role of engagement with others

但是，考虑到与他人接触

in the emergence of mutual understanding,

对相互理解的形成所起的作用，

is this a good idea?

这是个好主意吗？

Think back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors

回想一下我们的狩猎采集祖先，

still living and rearing children

他们仍然像人一样生活和抚养孩子。

as people in this iconic photograph, taken about half a century ago

在这张半个世纪前拍摄的非洲觅食者

among African foragers.

的标志性照片中。

Babies then, to stay safe, still needed to be held by somebody,

那时，为了保证安全， 婴儿仍然需要有人抱着，

but that somebody did not have to be their mother.

但那个人不一定是他们的母亲。

Right after birth, others might reach for the baby.

 婴儿刚出生，其他人可能会伸手抱他。

This mother, who has just given birth,

这位刚刚分娩的母亲

allows others to gather round.

让其他人围拢过来。

She's passed her baby to her own mother to massage its scalp.

她把孩子递给自己的母亲， 让她给孩子按摩头皮。

If one of these allomothers happens to be nursing,

如果这些母亲中有人正在哺乳，

the baby's first sweet taste of milk will come from her.

婴儿的第一口甜奶就会来自她。

Soon, babies will be monitoring nearby others,

很快，婴儿就会监视附近的其他人，

deciding who responds,

决定谁会回应，

figuring out how best to engage and appeal to them.

想出最好的办法来吸引他们。

By six months, the sharp little milk teeth are peeking through their gums.

到六个月时，锋利的小乳牙 就会从牙床里露出来。

Their appeals might be rewarded with kiss-fed treats,

他们的呼唤可能会得到亲吻喂食的奖励，

maybe honey-sweetened saliva or premasticated meat,

可能是蜂蜜加糖的唾液， 也可能是预先咀嚼过的肉，

and babies soon are learning to reciprocate,

婴儿很快就学会了回报，

starting to share.

开始分享。

Babies everywhere

世界各地的婴儿

will just spontaneously offer food to somebody else.

都会自发地向别人提供食物。

Anybody, really.

任何人，真的。

Active agents in their own survival,

婴儿是自己生存的积极主动者，

babies are flexible about who or what they attach or consider as family.

他们会灵活地选择依恋谁或什么， 或把谁视为家人。

Something to keep in mind

这一点則需要牢记在心︰

if robots are programmed to respond

如果机器人被编程为

even more rapidly and reliably

能比全神贯注的父母做出 更迅速、更可靠的反应。

than preoccupied parents do.

And as they get older,

随着年龄的增长，

they will spontaneously point to things

他们会自发地指着事物

or hold something out, as if saying,

或举起一些东西，好像在说：

“What do you think of this?

“你觉得这个怎么样？ 我应该怎么看这个？”

What should I think of this?”

Eager to engage with other minds and learn what they're thinking.

渴望与他人交流，了解他人的想法。

They care, they care very much

他们在乎，他们非常在乎 谁注意到他们做了一件好事，

who notices them do something nice,

like a toddler rushing to pick up something someone has dropped

就像一个蹒跚学步的孩子 急忙捡起别人掉在地上的东西

and hand it back.

递回去。

They care, not just what others think,

他们不仅在乎别人怎么想， 还在乎别人怎么看他们。

but what others think about them.

Their reputations.

他们的声誉。

As developmental psychologists were learning

就在发育心理学家了解到

just how other-regarding human babies are,

人类婴儿是如何关注他人的时候，

neuroscientists using new baby-friendly technologies

使用新的婴儿友好技术的神经科学家

made a surprising discovery.

有了一个惊人的发现。

With a soft-wired cap slipped on the baby's head,

在宝宝头上戴上软线帽的情况下，

neural activity was detected in the medial prefrontal cortex

早在大多数神经科学家认为 内侧前额叶皮层活跃之前，

long before most neuroscientists even assumed it was active yet.

就能检测到它的神经活动。

As babies process, eye gaze, actions,

在婴儿的成长过程中，目光、行动、

deciding who to trust,

决定信任谁、

emulate

模仿谁、爱谁。

and love.

Little humans process their physical world

小人类处理物理世界的方式 与其他猿类大致相同。

in much the same way other apes do.

Nothing much different there.

没有什么不同。

It's in these social realms where they really differ.

他们真正的不同之处在于这些社会领域。

Intersubjective sensibilities starting to emerge early in life,

主体间的情感在生命早期就已经开始萌发，

right along with targeted social smiles.

同时还有针对性的社交微笑。

Brain circuitry that evolved to help babies elicit care and survive

为了帮助婴儿获得关爱和生存而进化的大脑回路，

prepared our ancestors to mature into adults

使我们的祖先做好了准备，

able to communicate

能够以新的方式进行交流与合作，

and cooperate in new ways,

whether constructing shelters

无论是建造庇护所， 还是处理和分享食物，

or processing and sharing food,

or eventually, one day,

抑或是最终有一天， 与广泛分散的其他人合作，

collaborating with widely dispersed others

in order to send robots to Mars.

将机器人送往火星。

Tens of thousands of years from now,

几万年后，

assuming Homo sapiens aiensis is still around,

假设智人仍然存在，

whether on this planet or some other,

不管是在这个星球上还是其他星球上，

I have no doubt that they will be bipedal,

我毫不怀疑，他们将是双足、 会产生符号的猿人，

symbol-generating apes,

technologically proficient in ways we can't even dream of yet.

他们的技术精湛程度甚至是我们现在还无法想象的。

But will they still be human in the way we think of humans today?

但他们还会是我们今天眼中的人类吗？

Interested in the thoughts and emotions of others,

对他人的思想和情感感兴趣，

eligible for mutual understanding.

有资格相互理解。

That's going to depend on how,

这将取决于他们是如何、 由谁或以何种方式长大的。

by whom, or what they are reared.

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）