Anne Scherer: Why we're more honest with machines than people | TED

Transcriber:

譯者: Charlie Hsiao 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

Now, a few years back, I was having a barbecue with friends and family.

幾年前有一次我和親友們一起烤肉

As usual, we talked about the weather, the good food or TV shows to watch.

和往常一樣，我們聊天氣、聊美食 或討論好看的電視節目

So nothing out of the ordinary

一切都很正常

until one attendee casually mentioned

直到某人無意中說起

that he and his wife hadn't had sex in a long time.

他和妻子已經很久沒有做愛了

As you can imagine, what followed was an awkward silence.

正如你能想像的 隨後是一陣尷尬的沉默

Until a six-year-old boy attending the barbecue with his parents

直到一位與父母同來烤肉的六歲小男孩

blurted out that his parents had lots of sex

脫口而出說自己的父母經常做愛

and he could hear them all the time.

而且他總能聽到聲音

And then the barbecue continued as if nothing had happened.

接著這場烤肉就繼續下去 彷彿什麼也没發生過

Now, when I'm not having barbecues,

在烤肉之餘

I am researching how people interact with each other

我研究人與人如何互動

and how that transfers to their interactions with technologies,

以及這如何轉化到與科技互動

so not all too surprisingly,

因此，毫不奇怪地

after this very unique social interaction at the barbecue,

在那次烤肉的特殊社交互動後

I was left wondering why we, the audience,

我對那個傍晚

were so greatly ignoring what the adult so openly shared with us that evening.

大家如此忽視那位成年人 公開分享的內容感到困惑

So why the silence and then the laughter at the boy's comment?

為什麼大家會陷入沈默 然後又因為小男孩的話而發笑？

Well, both of them were breaking a social rule:

嗯，這兩人都打破了一項社交規則：

never talk about sex, money or politics at a dinner table.

不在餐桌上討論性、金錢以及政治

We assume that an adult knows this rule and sticks to it.

我們都假設成年人 會知道這項規則並會遵守它

So when such expectations are broken,

所以當這樣的期待被打破時

we sanction the offender accordingly -- in our case, with ignorance.

我們對破壞規則的人會有相應的反制

在這個案例中就是予以忽視

When a child, however, breaks such a rule,

而當小孩破壞了這項規則

we attribute this to their naive understanding of our social manners

我們會歸因於孩子對於社交禮節 缺乏成熟的認知

and up to a certain age at least, do not openly sanction them for it.

因此至少在某個年齡之前 不會公開約束他們

Clearly, there is no official rule book for socially appropriate behaviors

顯然地，社交行為是否合宜 並沒有正式的守則

or even socially accepted dinner topics.

也沒有適合餐桌的話題全集

In fact, our social norms are usually unwritten codes of conduct,

事實上，我們的社會規範 通常是不成文的行為準則

and they change over time as we as a society change and learn.

而且隨著社會的變遷而改變

Less than a year ago, for instance,

比如說，不到一年之前

it was considered impolite not to shake hands

向他人自我介紹時不握手 會被認為不禮貌

when introducing yourself to someone.

A few months and the worldwide spread of the coronavirus later

幾個月後，新冠肺炎肆虐全球

and shaking hands may be something to be frowned upon

握手可能不再被認可

and maybe even a thing of the past.

甚至成了過去式

The way we learn these social rules then

我們學習社交規範的方式

is mostly by social rewards and social punishments.

主要是透過社交酬賞和社交懲罰

Now, as social animals,

身為社交動物

we aim for social approval and want to avoid other's disapproval.

我們期望被社會認可

不想被他人否定

So we act in a way that is socially accepted

所以我們會遵循社會規篼

and present ourselves in a socially desirable way to others.

依照社會的喜好來呈現自己

So we want to be seen as an individual that is smart, successful,

我們都想被視為聰明且成功的人

sporty and active, creative, empathic and possibly all that at once.

擅長運動、活躍、富創造力與同理心

能同時兼具這些優點更好

Now, through social media, our strive for social approval,

社交媒體使得我們對社會認同的企求

and with it, our need for self-presentation and perfection

和對自我表現和完美的追求

has skyrocketed.

日益飛漲

Clearly, there is a flip side to all of this.

顯然這一切的背後有不好的一面

In any social interaction, we do not only look for others' approval,

在所有社交互動中 我們不僅尋求他人的認可

but we also constantly fear other's disapproval

更經常憂慮我們會因無法滿足 他人的期待而遭到否定

when we cannot live up to their expectations.

Just consider an adult with incontinence problems

想像一個人患有尿失禁

or a drug addiction.

或染有毒癮

If he or she had to talk to a health care professional,

當他去諮詢醫療專家時

what would you expect to find?

你覺得他會照實說嗎？

Or if a soldier returned from combat

或是當一名從戰場回來的士兵

and had to talk about their fears or problems,

需要談到他們的恐懼和問題時

do you think they would open up easily?

你認為開誠佈公對他們而言很容易嗎？

A team of USC researchers examined just that.

一個南加州大學的研究團隊 曾調查過這個現象

So they looked at the data from the US Army.

他們檢視了美軍的相關資料

Traditionally, soldiers had to be interviewed

傳統上，當士兵從戰場回來時 需要接受醫療專業人員訪談

by a human health care professional when returning from combat

to check if everything is OK.

來確認他們的狀況好不好

Now, interestingly,

然而，有意思的是

the researchers found that soldiers hardly reported any problems

研究人員發現士兵們從戰場歸來後 很少反應任何問題

after their returns.

Surely many of them were truly fine,

當然這些士兵之中 很多人是真的沒事的

but the researchers also suspected

但研究人員也懷疑

that many soldiers did not dare to share their problems openly.

有很多士兵不敢公開分享自己的問題

After all, soldiers are trained to be strong and brave individuals

畢竟，士兵被訓練得要強壯、勇敢

that learn not to show any weaknesses.

要學會不展現任何弱點

So openly admitting to have health problems,

因此坦承自己有健康問題

to have trouble sleeping or to have nightmares

有睡眠問題，或者會作惡夢

is not something easy to do for soldiers.

對士兵來說並不是一件容易的事情

The question then ultimately becomes

所以這個問題最終變成

how can we help individuals open up more easily

我們如何幫助人們更願意敞開心扉

and worry less about the judgment of others?

而不要太在意他人的評價？

Well, remember what I said earlier.

前面我談到

We expect social evaluation in any social interaction.

我們預期在所有社交互動中 都會得到社交評價

So how about we remove the social from the interaction?

那麼，如果把社交的成分 從互動中移除呢？

This is exactly what the team in the US did.

美國的這個團隊正是做了這樣的研究

In fact, they developed a virtual interviewer called SimSensei.

他們研發了一個 叫做 SimSensei 的虛擬面試員

So SimSensei is a digital avatar that has a humanlike appearance

SimSensei 是一個 有人類外貌的數位化身

and can interact with clients through natural conversations.

他可以用自然的交談與顧客互動

Now, when returning from combat,

當士兵從戰場回來時

soldiers were now interviewed by the digital avatar

改由這個數位化身進行訪談

instead of that human health care professional.

而不是原本的醫療人員

And what happened? Well, once SimSensei was introduced,

結果呢？

在面對 SimSensei 時

soldiers reported more health problems,

士兵們反應了更多的健康問題

like having nightmares or trouble sleeping.

比如經常做惡夢，或者有睡眠障礙

So machines can help remove the social from the equation

所以機器有助於移除社交元素

and help people open up more easily.

幫助人們暢所欲言

But careful, not all machines are created equal.

但是要注意的是 並不是所有的機器都相同

Considering the tremendous advancements in technologies like computer graphics

基於電腦成像或自然語言處理 等方面的科技突飛猛進

or natural language processing,

machines have become increasingly humanlike.

機器越來越像真人了

The question then ultimately becomes,

於是我們的問題最終變成

which rules do we apply in these interactions?

在這樣的互動中 我們會運用什麼規則？

Do we still apply social rules when we interact with humanlike machines?

我們在與擬人機器互動時 仍然會使用社交規範嗎？

So do we start to worry about social judgment again?

我們會顧慮社交評價嗎？

This is exactly what I examine in my research.

這正是我的研究中所要探討的

Together with colleagues, we have developed a series of chatbots.

我和同事們研發了一系列的聊天機器人

These chatbots were programmed to simulate text-based conversations

這些機器人可以模擬文字聊天

and they were designed to be either very social and humanlike

他們有的是擬人的社交型

or very functional and machine-like.

有的是很機械化的功能型

So, for instance,

舉例來說

our humanlike bots use so-called speed disfluencies

我們的擬人機器人 可以使用所謂的交談緩衝詞

and social language cues,

和社交語言信號

like these "ohos", "ahas", "hmms" we humans love to use in our conversations

例如人類在交談中喜歡用的 「喔］、「啊哈］、「嗯］

to signal our presence to conversation partners.

來暗示交談對象我們在聽著

In contrast, our machine-like bots

相反地，我們的功能型機器人 不會使用這些社交線索

lacked such social cues and simply kept to the talking points.

只能就事論事

Since we were interested in how much people would open up

因為我們感興趣的是人們 在不同對話中坦誠的程度

in these different conversations,

we ask participants a number of questions,

我們對參與者提出了一系列問題

which gradually grew more and more personal,

這些問題越來越有關隱私

up to the point where we would ask participants

直到最後我們要求參與者

to share possibly very delicate information about themselves.

分享一些可能很私密的訓息

Now, considering the findings from prior research,

考慮到先前談到的研究結果

such as the one from the US Army before,

比如美軍的調查報告

we expected that people would apply more social rules

我們預期參與者與這擬人機器互動時

in their interactions with these humanlike bots

會運用到更多社交規範

and act accordingly.

並且遵守這些規範

So what did we find?

那麼我們得到什麼結果？

Well, exactly that.

嗯，與預期完全相同

So participants interacting with our humanlike bots

那些和擬人機器人互動的參與者

were more concerned about social evaluation

更在意社交評價

and as a result of this social apprehension,

而因為這樣的社交顧慮

they also gave more socially desirable responses.

他們做出了更多符合社會喜好的回應

Let me give you an example.

我來舉個例子

One of the most delicate questions that we asked participants

我們詢問參與者的一個很私密的問題

was the number of prior sex partners they had had.

是他們曾經有過多少性伴侶

When interacting with our humanlike bot,

相較於與功能型機器人的交流

men reported to have significantly more prior sex partners

當他們跟擬人機器人交流時

and women reported to have significantly less

男性回答的數目明顯增高

than those men and women interacting with our mechanistic bot.

而女性回答的數目明顯減少

So what does this all tell us?

那麼這樣的結果告訴我們什麼？

Well, first, men want to look good by having more prior sex partners

首先，

男性想要藉由性伴侶眾多 來顯得很優秀

and women by having less.

而女性正好相反

Clearly, this already says a lot

顯然，這已經說明

about what the different sexes consider socially desirable

不同的性別如何看待社會偏好

and how our expectations in society still differ across genders.

以及我們的社會對男女 仍有不同的要求

But this opens up a whole new topic

而這個結果開啟了一個全新的議題

that I will better leave for other experts to discuss.

但這就要讓其它專家繼續去探究

Second, and maybe more importantly, from a consumer psychology perspective.

第二點，可能也是比較重要的一點 是要從消費心理學觀點來說

People open up more easily when they interact with machines

就是人們在與機器互動時更容易放鬆

that are apparently just that -- machines.

就是那些像機器的機器

Today, a lot of sweat, money and tears

如今有大量的金錢、汗水、和淚水

is put into making machines basically indistinguishable from us.

被投入到開發與真人難以分辨的機器上

Now, this research can show

從我們的研究結果可以看到

that sometimes letting a machine be a machine is actually a good thing.

有時候讓機器像個機器 其實是件好事

Which brings me to my third point.

這就引出我要說的第三點

These machine interactions have been highly criticized at times.

一些機器與人的互動 有時會受到嚴厲的批評

So you may have heard that Siri, Alexa or others

你可能聽說過 Siri、Alexa 或其他人工智能

make your kids rude or impolite.

讓小孩變得粗魯或無禮

Hopefully, this research can show you

但願這個研究結果能讓你看到

a great upside of these machine interactions.

這樣的人機互動也有非常正面的意義

In times of social media and our constant hunt for the next “like,”

處於社交媒體的年代 我們不斷追求下一個「點讚」

machines can give us grownups --

機器可以幫助我們成年人

help us find that inner child again

尋回內心中的純真

and give our constant need for self-presentation and perfection

為我們不斷追求自我表達和追求完美

a time-out.

按下暫停鍵

For once, we do not need to worry

就這麼一次，我們無需擔憂

if the number of prior sex partners is too high or too low,

我們有過的性伴侶太多或太少

and instead it is OK to simply be who we are.

我們可以單純地做自己就好

Ultimately, then, I think that these machines can remind us

最終，這些機器可以提醒我們

of a central element of what makes a good conversation partner:

一個好的交談對象具備的核心要素：

being nonjudgmental.

不要批評

so the next time you might encounter

所以下回當你碰到特殊的社交狀況

a unique social situation like mine at the barbecue,

好比我那個烤肉活動

try to be less judgmental

當別人分享他的想法、感受或問題時 盡量不要做出評價

when another person openly shares

their thoughts, feelings and problems with you.

Many machines do this already, and maybe so should we.

很多機器都已經這麼做了 或許我們也該如此

Thank you very much.

謝謝大家