有理论认为，借助 AI 机器人的声控指令功能，人们的生活会变得更加便利。但机器人的对话通常被设定为模仿人类的日常对话，而这些对话中往往充满着客套话。不论是亚马逊的 Alexa 还是苹果的 Siri，机器人跟人讲客套，多少显得怪怪的。其实，这一切都是 skeuomophism (模仿已有模型的相似设计) 的原因，设计师们常常陷入过往困境，他们习惯于在已知事物的基础上进行改造，他们害怕新潮设计会引发震荡，于是总是生搬硬套一些无用的功能，创新的步伐自然也被拖慢。AI 交谈便落入了这样的窠臼，机器人说话如同19世纪管家一般，人们只是想获取一些即时信息，并不需要看一出王尔德戏剧。让机器人说话更像“机器人”，简单也许会更好。
Stop the Chitchat. Bots Don't Need to Sound Like Us
The theory is that digital AI assistants with voice commands make life more convenient.
But these assistants are scripted to emulate everyday conversation. And everyday conversation is filled with little pauses and filler words, the "phatic" spackle of social interactions. That's why Amazon's Alexa says things like "Sorry, I'm not sure about that," or Siri says "OK, here's what I found…". It's how humans talk. But when a bot does it, something just doesn't feel quite right.
For years, sci-fi promised that one day we'd interact with machines as if they were people. But what if conversation turns out to be a lousy idea? We've been down this road before. It's the problem of so-called skeuomorphic design: In the early days of a new technology, designers mimic the look and feel of older media. Apple's first iPad calendar app resembled a paper day planner, including "pages" that you'd rip away as time passed.
Sometimes designers use skeuomorphs because they're imprisoned by the past, unable to imagine the demands of the new. Sometimes they do it on purpose, to ease future shock.
Either way, skeuomorphs slow things down by adding functionally useless interactions.
"Conversational AI" is suffering through these precise growing pains. Our bots talk like 19th-century butlers, while I'm looking for some quick information Siri sounds like she's auditioning for a role in an Oscar Wilde play. We're bothered by AIs that try to sound human. Let's see how we like it when they try to sound like robots.
▍生词好句
the theory is that: the idea is that; the plan is that; the intention is that. (常用搭配: In theory, but not in practice—the idea sounds good but it won't work in reality.)
the "phatic" spackle of social interactions /ˈfatɪk/: "phatic" means the language used for general social interaction, not really language to convey information or ask questions. "Spackle" is sth. we use to fill a gap or a crack in a wall. And "phatic spackle" is another way to say "conversation filler".
something doesn't feel quite right: in this sentence, it means sth. feels strange. (使用本短语的另一常见情形: when we are planning to do sth. and we have a feeling that maybe this thing is wrong, unjust, dishonest or it may cause problems for ourselves or others.
turn out to be a lousy idea /ˈlaʊzi/: If sth. "turns out to be a lousy idea", then at first, it seemed like a good idea, but later we realized it's a bad idea.
be imprisoned by the past /ɪmˈprɪznd/: to have old-fashioned or outdated ideas and attitudes; to think too much about the past or to believe that things are the same way as they were in the past. (常用搭配: living in the past, 常与 move on 连用，表示 stop thinking about the past, think about the present and future.)
growing pains: pains that occur in the limbs (legs) of some young children. (引申含义: the difficulties experienced in the early stages of a plan, or a process.) (常用搭配: experience growing pains)
bother /ˈbɒðə/: vt. 打扰 (常用搭配: (I'm) not bothered—it's used for saying that sth. is not important to me, and I don't really care.)
