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选自 January 06 2018 Science and Technology 板块

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我是Eva

一个认真学英语的美少女

#Eva导读#

如今的人工智能都被赋予了一些拟人化的特征，这使得人们更加容易与机器产生互动，建立起关系。但是最近的一项研究发现，这样的人机互动关系，有利也有弊。研究人员实验总结如下：

实验总结与结果分析：

第一次实验：

包含两个测试：

第一个测试：检测对智商延展性的认知，分数高，认为智商可改变；分数低，认为智商不可改变。

第二个测试：在测试中，参与者会随机被提示（注意，是被提示，这一点很重要），一半的参与者看到的提示是有人脸和对话气泡框，而另一半参与者看到的提示是没有人脸也没有对话气泡框。检测，参与者对被提示后的感受。分数越高，焦虑感越强。

测试的结果：认为智商不可改变的人（第一个测试结论），在第二个测试中，是否有人脸和对话气泡框，对这些人的焦虑感影响大小不同。有人脸和对话气泡框，焦虑感强，无人脸和对话气泡框，焦虑感弱。

认为智商可改变的人（第一个测试结论），在第二个测试中，是否有人脸和对话气泡框，对这些人的焦虑感影响相同。

第二个实验：

与第一个实验唯一的不同在于，在第二个测试中，提示是由参与者要求的，而不是被提供的。测试结果，与第一个实验结果相似。

对比两个实验：

不同点在于，参与者是被提供帮助，还是主动寻求帮助。

两个实验结果相似，说明，虽然是主动选择寻求帮助，但还是会有焦虑感。文章最后一句话，Eva的理解是，这种焦虑感在一定程度上是会抑制人机互动。

#以上，个人总结和理解，欢迎批评指正，欢迎留言讨论

#有输出才有进步

Digital assistants 

Losing face 

Sometimes, computer programs seem too human for their own good 

Digital assistants such as Siri and Cortana are increasingly common on phones and computers[像Siri和Cortana这样的数字助手在手机和电脑上都越来越普遍]. Most are designed to give their users the impression that a humanlike intelligence lies behind the program’s friendly voice[大多数的设计都是为了给用户留下这样的印象，一个友好的声音后藏着一个人性化的智能程序].It does not, of course[当然，事实并不是这样的]. But dozens of of experiments over the years have shown that people readily[容易的乐意的]build strong bonds with computerised helpers which are endowed with[天生具备]anthropomorphic[拟人化的]features, whether visual or vocal[但是这些年众多的实验显示，人们很容易地与电脑助手建立了强烈的纽带，这些电脑助手具备拟人化的的特征，不论是看上去还是听上去].

Developing an emotional relationship with a piece of software can, however, cut both ways[利弊互见][然而，与一个软件之间建立感情关系有利也有弊]. As a study published in Psychological Science byPark Daeun, of Chungbuk National University in South Korea, and her colleagues, shows, one emotion sometimes involved in machine-human interaction isembarrassment[正如一个由韩国忠北国立大学PD和她的同事们发表在心理科学中的研究表明，一个卷入机器和人类互动之间的感情，有时是尴尬的].This, Dr Park has discovered, makes some users reluctant to ask for help from their artificially intelligent pals[P博士的这一发现，使得一些用户不愿意想他们的人工智能小伙伴寻求帮助].Apparently, they are sheepish[不好意思的]aboutdoing so[很显然，他们不好意思这么做].

Dr Park and her team recruited 187 participants into their study[P博士和她的团队雇了187个人参与了她们的研究].To start with each was presented with a series of statements on the malleability[延展性]ofintelligence[一开始，向每个人展示一系列关于智利的延展性陈述].These included, “you have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it”, and “you can always substantially change how intelligent you are”[包括“你有一定的智力，你无法改变它”，以及“你总能够持续的改变你有多聪明”].Participants rated their responses to these statements on a six-point scale, on which one meant “strongly disagree” and six meant “strongly agree”[参与者将他们对这些陈述的回复用6分制评分，1代表“强烈不同意”6代表“强烈同意”].The reason for this initial test was that Dr Park knew from previous work that, in academic settings, those who believe intelligence to be malleable are comfortable asking for assistance while those who believe it to be fixed often feel ashamed to do so[P博士从之前的研究了解了这个最初的测验的原因，在学术背景下，那些认为智力是可以延展的会自在的像数字助手寻求帮助，而那些认为智力是不可以改变的会觉得向数字助手寻求帮助时羞愧的].

The initial test done, the researchers presented their volunteers with a second, which involved looking at 16 sets of three words and trying to think of a fourth word that linked them[在首个测试结束后，研究人员向志愿者展示了第二个测验，是让他们看每三个一组共16组单词，并尝试想出与这三个单词相关的第4个单词].For example, when offered “room, blood, salts” a correct answer would be “bath”[例如，当出现“房间，血液，盐”时，正确的答案是“浴室”].Sometimes the first three words were accompanied by an unrequested hint (in the example given, this was “tub”)[有时，前三个单词外还会伴随一个违背要求的提示（在这个例子中，提示是“浴盆”）].Sometimes they were not[有时没有提示].Hints appeared as the written form of the word in question, accompanied by a computer-shaped icon[问题中的单词提示以书面形式出现，伴随着一个计算机形状的图标].For half of participants this icon had a humanlike face, and the hint was placed inside a speech bubble originating from that face, thus anthropomorphizing[拟人化的]thepresentation to some degree[对于一半的参与者，这个图标是像人一样的面孔，提示出现在来自人脸的对话气泡框，这样在一定程度上讲展示拟人化].For the other half the icon lacked a face and there was no speech bubble[另一半参与者，这个图标没有人脸，也没有对话气泡框].After the final set of words had been displayed, participants were asked to agree or disagree with follow-up statements about their experience, such as “it was embarrassing to receive help during the task”, and “others might think I am incompetent because I received help during the task”[在最后一组单词展示后，参与者接下来将被问到他们同意或关于他们体验的陈述，例如“在测试中受到帮助是尴尬的”，以及“其他人可能认为我能力不足，因为我在测试中受到了帮助”].This time, they quantified their feelings on a seven-point scale, with higher scores representing greater feelings of unease[焦虑不安][这次，他们的感觉将用7分制量化，越高的分代表焦虑的程度越高].

The researchers found that participants who believed intelligence to be unchangeable felt more embarrassed and more incompetent after the tests[研究人员发现，那些认为智力是不可以改变的参与者，在测试后会感觉到更多的尴尬和能力不足]. Specifically, those (whoselevel of belief that this is true)(定语修饰those) was(系动词) more than one standard deviation above the mean scoreon the six-point scale for perceptions of intelligence flexibility (in otherwords, the top sixth of the sample), averaged 3.2when measured for feelings of shame and embarrassment if the computer iconsthey had seen giving the hints had had faces and speech bubbles, but only 2.7if not[尤其，那些认为智力是不可以改变的人，对智力灵活程度的感知，在6分制测验中，比平均分数高了一个标准差（换句话说，样本的前六分之一），在测试羞愧和尴尬的感觉时，如果他们看到提供提示的计算机图标由人脸和对话气泡框的话，他们平均得分3.2分，如果没有人脸和对话气泡框，平均得分仅为2.7分]. In contrast, people who strongly believed thatintelligence could be changed over time (the bottom sixth of the sample) feltthe same level of discomfort (around 2.5) whether or not the icons had been anthropomorphized[相比之下，那些强烈认为智力是可以随着时间改变的人（样本的后六分之一），不论图标是否拟人化显示，感觉到相同程度的不适（大约2.5分）].

A second experiment, in which a different set of participants were allowed to ask for help rather than having it thrust upon[强迫(某人)接受] them at random had similar results[在第二次实验中，一组不同的参与者允许寻求帮助，而不是随机强迫接受帮助，试验的结果与第一次的结果相似].Dr Park therefore concludes that some people do, indeed, seem to wish to avoid losing face by seeking help from an icon that has, well, a face[因此，P博士总结，一些人确实可能想要通过向有人脸的图标寻求帮助，以避免丢面子].And that in turn suggests there are circumstances when therelentless[持续强烈的]pseudo-humanisation[伪人性化] of machine-human interactions could usefully[有效的]becurbed[限制,约束][这反过来说明，有些情况下，人机之间持续的伪人性化的互动可以被有效的抑制].

Jan 10 | 688 words

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我是Eva

一个认真学英语的美少女