He Laughs，Learns，and Has Impeccable Manners.Oh，and He’s a Robot

Erin+Griffith

At first glance， Jibo looks a bit like Wall-E1）s robot girlfriend. Both Jibo， a real robot， and Wall-Es girlfriend， the fictional Pixar character， have the look of a futuristic Apple product： reflective white plastic， round curves， a black screen for a “face，” and smooth swiveling2） movements.

But Jibos raison dêtre3） is slightly more in line with Rosie， the robot maid from the 1960s animated television series The Jetsons， and its operating system is more akin to the one employed by Samantha， the artificially intelligent character from the 2013 Spike Jonze film Her. （One key difference： Jibo is male， according to its makers.）

Jibo is described as a “family robot” because it is able to see， hear， speak， learn， and help families with a variety of tasks around the house. It—he？—can “relate” by expressing itself in natural language， using “social and emotive cues so you understand each other better.” Jibo is meant to be a companion.

Naturally， I had to meet Jibo. Off to a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan， then， where two Jibos and Dr. Cynthia Breazeal， the robots creator， awaited me. The robot is not yet fully functioning， it turns out. I watched a prepared demo where Jibo， about a foot tall， turned to look me in the eye. This was disarming4） at first， as if I was being followed by a security camera. Once he started talking to me， it began to feel more natural—as natural as a robot in a 1980s science fiction movie， anyway. Unlike his lesser robotic peers， or， say， a smartphone， Jibo did not rudely buzz or ding when there was a new message to communicate to me. He politely said， “Excuse me， Erin，” and waited for me to respond before continuing.

In the room， Jibo showed off his swiveling， spinning and leaning moves to me， along with some of the programs hell feature. He ended his performance with a cheesy5） joke， and his eyes turned to tiny half-moons when he laughed at the punch line6）.

Jibo can perform a number of functions. He can tell childrens stories and snap family photos using face recognition. He can place Skype calls and handle communications for which you would normally use a phone. Jibo is meant to stay in the home， perched on a table or countertop， and a demo video shows him greeting a single man when he comes home from work and offering to order Chinese takeout. In another scene， Jibo is hanging out while a woman kneads7） bread. He chimes in to remind her that her daughter is picking her up soon. “Thanks， Jibo，” the woman responds， not unlike Jane Jetson talking to Rosie.

Whether that can make a difference—or translate to sales of in-home robots—is up for debate， but if anyone can figure this out， its Jibos inventor. Breazeal has dedicated her career to social robots， starting as a grad student at M.I.T. When she was younger， she didnt understand why NASA was sending robots to Mars but they still hadnt arrived in peoples homes. Its because those robots werent designed to be social， she reasoned. Breazeal went on to build the first social robot， which was called Kismet and intended for children. She has since published numerous studies on social robotics and in 2010 delivered a TED talk on the subject. People respond to human-like robots the same way they respond to people， she argued， and robots with the ability to convey expression increase empathy， engagement， and collaboration among people in a way that a robot with a flat demeanor8） cannot.

Jibo is purposely designed to not resemble a human， Breazeal says. The goal is to create what she calls a humanized experience， “because thats what empowers people，” she says. Robots that try to look like human beings end up being a little too science fiction.

Artificial intelligence has certainly been top-of-mind for many Americans， both because of the film Her and ever-present economic fears that robots will make our jobs redundant. A recent New York Times article， “The Future of Robot Caregivers，” sunnily outlined how robots could lighten the burden of caring for aging baby boomers：

“In an ideal world， it would be： Each of us would have at least one kind and fully capable human caregiver to meet our physical and emotional needs as we age. But most of us do not live in an ideal world， and a reliable robot may be better than an unreliable or abusive person， or than no one at all.”

In Japan， robots help with a nursing shortage by conversing with patients that have dementia9）. Similar life-helper robots can be found in Sweden and around Europe， according to the Times.

Not everyone welcomes this development. “This is how to fail the third machine age10），” wrote Zeynep Tufekci， a sociology professor at the University of North Carolinas iSchool， in response to the article.

“In my view， warehousing elderly and children—especially children with disabilities—in rooms with machines that keep them busy， when large numbers of humans beings around the world are desperate for jobs that pay a living wage is worse than the Dickensian nightmares of mechanical industrialization； its worse than the cold， alienated workplaces depicted by Kafka.

“Its an abdication11） of a desire to remain human， to be connected to each other through care， and to take care of each other.”

Tufekci argues that based on unemployment figures， were not facing a shortage of caregivers. Rather， she writes， “were facing a shortage of caring.”

Meanwhile， a new study from Pew Research suggests that tech industry influencers are split on whether robots will help or hurt the economy. Just over half of those surveyed believed robots wont take away more jobs than they create， resulting in a net12） positive for the economy. However， the other half felt less optimistic about our robotic future.

“The other 48%， though， think that robots will displace huge numbers of white and blue collar workers in the next 10 years， which would not only leave people unemployed but which could disrupt social order.”

Breazeal contends that Jibo isnt meant to be a caregiver for aging people or a replacement for human labor. The robots are meant to help older users age independently. “Jibo is about empowerment and helping people do what they want to do and what they need to do，” she says. “Its not about replacing people.”

“Theres a lot of kneejerk13） reaction，” she adds. “Were not trying to create a robot caregiver at all. Were empowering people to live independently and be emotionally connected to their family， because thats what matters.”

乍看上去，吉波跟瓦力的機器人女友有點像。無論是吉波——一個真正的機器人，還是瓦力的女友——皮克斯動畫片中虛構的一個角色，其外觀都像是未來范兒的蘋果產(chǎn)品：反光的白色塑料、圓滑的曲線、一塊黑色屏幕做成的“臉”以及流暢的旋轉動作。

但就其存在的意義而言，吉波略微更接近羅西——20世紀60年代動畫系列片《杰森一家》中的機器人女仆；而吉波的操作系統(tǒng)更類似于薩曼莎采用的操作系統(tǒng)，薩曼莎是2013年斯派克·瓊斯執(zhí)導的電影《她》中的人工智能角色。（一個主要區(qū)別：根據(jù)其制造者的說法，吉波是位男性。）

吉波被稱作“家用機器人”，因為它能看、能聽、能說、能學，而且能幫家庭成員處理家里的各種事務。它——他？——可以用自然的語言表達自己的意思，從而“與人互動”，運用“社交和情緒上的暗示，從而使你們能更好地相互理解”。吉波的設計用途是當一個伙伴。

我當然得見見吉波。于是，我去了曼哈頓中城一個酒店的房間，兩個吉波機器人及其創(chuàng)造者辛西婭·布雷齊爾博士在那里等我。事實證明，這款機器人的功能還不完善。我觀看了一段事先準備好的演示，演示中，大約一英尺高的吉波扭過頭直視我。一開始這讓我放下戒心，覺得不過像身邊跟了個監(jiān)控攝像頭。一旦他開始跟我說話，就顯得更自然了——反正就像20世紀80年代科幻電影中的機器人那樣自然。吉波不同于他那些不那么像機器人的同類或是智能手機，在有新信息向我傳達時，他不會發(fā)出刺耳的嗡嗡聲或叮叮聲，而是有禮貌地說：“打擾了，埃琳?！钡任掖饛椭螅爬^續(xù)說話。

在房間里，吉波向我展示了他的轉動、旋轉和傾斜動作，還有他將搭載的某些程序。他用一個俗氣的玩笑結束了表演，玩笑里的“包袱”讓他笑得眼睛瞇成了小月牙。

吉波可以發(fā)揮許多功能。他會講兒童故事，也能用人臉識別功能拍攝家庭照片。他可以用Skype打電話，并處理一些人們通常會用電話進行的交流。吉波的設計初衷是讓他待在家里，站在桌子或臺面上。在一段演示視頻中，一位單身男子下班回家，吉波和他打招呼，并主動詢問要不要叫中餐外賣。在另一個場景中，一個女人在揉做面包的面團，吉波待在一旁。期間吉波插話提醒她說她的女兒很快就會來接她?！爸x謝，吉波?！蹦莻€女人回答道，就像簡·杰森（編注：《杰森一家》中的角色）在和羅西說話。

至于這些功能會不會產(chǎn)生什么影響——或促成家用機器人的銷售——還有待商榷，但如果說有誰能搞清楚這一點，那應該是吉波的發(fā)明者。布雷齊爾一直致力于研究社交機器人，這從她在麻省理工學院讀研究生時就開始了。年輕些的時候，她不明白為什么國家航空航天局都把機器人送到火星了，機器人卻還沒有進入人們家中。她推斷，原因是那些機器人的設計用途不是社交。后來，布雷齊爾打造出首款社交機器人，名為“凱斯梅特”，意在供兒童使用。此后，她發(fā)表了關于社交機器人的大量研究成果，并在2010年就該主題在TED大會上發(fā)表了演講。她認為，人們對類人機器人的回應方式和他們對真人的回應方式一樣，能夠傳達表情的機器人可以增進人們的同理心、感情交流和合作，這是舉止沉悶的那種機器人做不到的。

布雷齊爾說，吉波被特意設計成不像人類的樣子。這樣做的目的是創(chuàng)造一種她所謂的人性化體驗。“因為這才是給人以力量的東西?！彼f。試圖接近人類長相的機器人終究顯得有點太科幻。

人工智能無疑是許多美國人最為關注的一個話題，一方面是因為電影《她》，另一方面是一直以來人們在經(jīng)濟方面的擔憂，擔心機器人將使我們?nèi)祟悂G掉工作?！都~約時報》最近刊登了一篇題為《機器人護理員的未來》的文章，文章樂觀地概述了機器人將如何照顧步入晚年的嬰兒潮一代，減輕人們的負擔：

“在理想的世界里，情況是這樣的：當我們變老時，我們每個人都至少有一位善良又非常能干的護理員來滿足我們身體和情感上的需求。但我們大多數(shù)人并非生活在理想世界里，而與不可靠或是粗暴的人相比，或者與根本無人照料相比，一個可靠的機器人可能會更好?！?/p>

在日本，機器人與癡呆癥患者交談，緩解了護士短缺的問題。據(jù)《紐約時報》稱，瑞典等歐洲國家都有類似的生活輔助型機器人。

并非人人都歡迎這種新發(fā)展?！暗谌齻€機器時代就是這么搞砸的?！北笨_來納大學信息學院社會學教授澤伊內(nèi)普·圖菲克希撰文回應了《紐約時報》的文章。

“在我看來，將老人和兒童——特別是殘疾兒童——安置在房間里，讓機器人陪他們忙活，與此同時世界各地有很多人拼命想找份維持生計的工作，這真是比狄更斯式機械工業(yè)化的噩夢更糟糕，比卡夫卡筆下冷漠異化的工作場所更糟糕?！?/p>

“這放棄了保持人情味的愿望，通過關心來彼此聯(lián)系的愿望，以及人們相互照顧的愿望?！?/p>

圖菲克希認為，基于失業(yè)率數(shù)據(jù)，我們面臨的問題不是護理員短缺。相反，她寫道：“我們面臨的是關懷短缺?！?/p>

同時，皮尤研究中心的一項新研究表明，對于機器人會促進經(jīng)濟發(fā)展還是有損經(jīng)濟發(fā)展，科技行業(yè)有影響力的人們之間存在分歧。一半多一點的受訪者認為，機器人搶走的就業(yè)崗位不會多于其創(chuàng)造的就業(yè)崗位，因此最終會對經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)生積極影響。然而，另一半受訪者對于有機器人參與的未來并沒有那么樂觀。

“不過，另外48%的受訪者認為，在未來十年，機器人將取代大量白領和藍領工人。這不僅會讓人們失業(yè)，而且會擾亂社會秩序?！?/p>

布雷齊爾聲稱，吉波的設計初衷并非老年人的護理員，或是人力勞動的替代品。這款機器人旨在幫助老年用戶獨立地度過晚年?！凹ǖ挠猛臼墙o人以力量，幫助人們做他們想做的事和需要做的事，”她說，“吉波不是用來代替人的。”

“很多人會有下意識的反應，”她補充道，“我們壓根沒打算創(chuàng)造出一個機器人護理員。我們所做的是使人們能夠獨立生活，并且在情感上與家人保持聯(lián)系，因為這才是最重要的?！?/p>

1. Wall-E：瓦力，皮克斯出品的動畫長片《機器人總動員》（Wall-E）中的角色，是地球上最后一臺垃圾清理機器人，后與來自外太空的機器人Eve相愛。

2. swivel [?sw?v（?）l] v. （使）旋轉，（使）轉動

3. raison dêtre：法語，意為“存在的理由”。

4. disarming [d?s?ɑ?（r）m??] adj. 消除敵意的；使人消氣的

5. cheesy [?t?i?zi] adj. 〈俚〉粗陋的

6. punch line：（故事、戲劇、笑話等中的）妙句，關鍵語

7. knead [ni?d] vt. 揉成，捏制

8. demeanor [d??mi?n?（r）] n. 行為，舉動

9. dementia [d??men??] n. [醫(yī)]癡呆

10. the third machine age：在圖菲克希的文章中，第一個機器時代是指機器取代體力勞動，第二個機器時代是指機器取代腦力勞動，而第三個機器時代是指機器將取代情緒勞動（emotional labor）。

11. abdication [??bd??ke??（?）n] n. （權力等的）放棄

12. net [net] adj. 最終的，結局的

13. kneejerk [?ni?d???（r）k] adj. 〈口〉（反應等）自動的，容易預測的