Movies, TV shows, and video games have explored what might happen when androids are so lifelike

電影、電視劇和視頻遊戲已經探討了當機器人如此栩栩如生時可能發生的情況

they can blend in among us and hold an intelligent conversation.

他們可以混在我們中間，進行聰明的對話。

But could these sci-fi fantasies ever come true?

但是，這些科幻幻想會不會成真呢？

Could people one day actually form relationships with robots powered by AI?

有一天，人們能否真正與由人工智能驅動的機器人形成關係？

Androids are constantly improving but…well, let's face it—they're still pretty bad.

安卓系統正在不斷改進，但是......好吧，讓我們面對它--它們仍然很糟糕。

There's just something about them that still isn't right and that could keep people from forming connections with them.

只是他們身上有一些東西仍然不對，這可能使人們無法與他們形成聯繫。

They often fall into what's been dubbed the uncanny valley, an idea introduced in the 1970s

他們經常陷入被稱為 "不可思議的山谷"，這是20世紀70年代提出的一個概念。

by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori.

由日本機器人專家Masahiro Mori設計。

He noticed how people seemed repulsed by things that were very close to human, but not quite there.

他注意到人們似乎對那些非常接近人類，但又不完全是人類的東西感到厭惡。

Mori never meant for his idea to be a rigorous scientific concept.

莫里從來沒有想過讓他的想法成為一個嚴格的科學概念。

It was really supposed to serve as food for thought for future roboticists as they designed more life-like androids.

這其實是為未來的機器人專家在設計更多栩栩如生的機器人時提供思想食糧。

Because of the informal nature of the concept's creation,

因為這個概念的創造是非正式的。

its existence is actually a topic of debate among psychologists,

它的存在實際上是心理學家們爭論的一個話題。

with some proposing that there's no well-defined valley per se,

有些人提出，本身沒有明確的谷地。

just an uncanny phenomenon that different people may feel to different degrees.

只是一種不可思議的現象，不同的人可能有不同程度的感受。

Some people may not experience that uncanny sensation at all.

有些人可能根本就沒有體驗到那種不可思議的感覺。

So since the uncanny valley isn't a hard-and fast rule, it's not an impassable obstacle

是以，既然不可思議谷不是一個硬性規定，它也不是一個不可逾越的障礙。

when it comes to forming relationships with androids.

當涉及到與機器人形成關係時。

Really people can form relationships with anything—

真的，人們可以與任何東西形成關係--

humans are emotional creatures and we have a tendency to anthropomorphize even inanimate objects all the time.

人類是情緒化的動物，我們總是傾向於將無生命的物體擬人化。

Like, look at this guy! Look at that face!

就像，看看這傢伙！看那張臉！

So we can have feelings for robots or AI even if their appearance isn't totally human,

所以我們可以對機器人或人工智能有感情，即使他們的外表並不完全是人類。

or even if they have no physical form at all.

甚至如果他們根本就沒有實體形式。

What may be more important is how well the machine's AI can connect with humans emotionally.

更重要的可能是機器的人工智能能在多大程度上與人類進行情感交流。

There are plenty of documented examples of people falling in love with video game characters

有很多記錄在案的例子，人們愛上了視頻遊戲角色

and maintaining relationships that last for years.

並維持持續多年的關係。

One Japanese game, Love Plus, has fans so loyal to the game and its anime-style love interests

有一款日本遊戲Love Plus，其粉絲對遊戲及其動畫風格的愛侶如此忠誠

that a resort town outside Tokyo caters to players who bring their virtual dates on real romantic getaways.

東京郊外的一個度假小鎮迎合了那些帶著他們的虛擬約會者進行真正的浪漫度假的玩家。

While these characters can evoke feelings of romance and companionship,

雖然這些人物可以喚起人們對浪漫和陪伴的感覺。

they are still dependent on pre-programmed interactions and responses

他們仍然依賴於預先編程的互動和反應

and keeping the relationship fresh hinges on if their developers keep putting out updates.

並保持這種關係的新鮮度，取決於他們的開發者是否不斷推出更新。

AI still has a way to go before it can hold a stimulating conversation all on its own.

人工智能在能夠獨立進行刺激性對話之前還有一段路要走。

Algorithms have yet to master empathetic dialogue or the ability to answer tough questions with meaningful responses.

算法還沒有掌握富有同情心的對話，也沒有掌握用有意義的回答來回答棘手問題的能力。

Still, some algorithms can be very convincing.

不過，有些算法還是可以很有說服力的。

One language model, GPT-3, draws from billions of web pages and books to calculate what words

有一個語言模型，GPT-3，從數十億的網頁和書籍中，計算出哪些單詞

a human would probably use in a conversation.

一個人可能會在對話中使用。

It's far from perfect, but still believable enough that the company behind it won't release it to the public for safety reasons.

它遠非完美，但仍然足夠可信，以至於其背後的公司出於安全考慮不會向公眾發佈它。

Still, one coder gained access to the beta and used it to make a chatbot that anyone could interact with.

不過，一位編碼員還是獲得了測試版的權限，並利用它製作了一個任何人都能與之互動的哈拉機器人。

Some users developed strong emotional connections with it,

一些用戶與它建立了強烈的情感聯繫。

like one who found some solace after messaging a bot that was trained on messages his fiance had sent him

比如一個人在給一個機器人發資訊後找到了一些安慰，這個機器人是根據他的未婚夫給他的資訊訓練出來的。

before she passed away.

在她去世之前。

That's one of the upsides worth pondering when it comes to human-AI relationships.

這是涉及到人類與人工智能關係時值得深思的一個好處。

AI assistants have been humanized with the goal of making them more useful and integrated into our day-to-day lives,

人工智能助手已經被人性化，目的是讓它們更有用，並融入我們的日常生活。

but what happens when they're so human-like that people develop feelings for them?

但是，當他們如此像人類，以至於人們對他們產生感情時，會發生什麼？

At the moment we can only guess what will happen.

目前，我們只能猜測將發生什麼。

These AI could genuinely be helpful for people lacking in intimacy.

這些人工智能對於缺乏親密關係的人來說，確實可以起到幫助作用。

They could be therapeutic for people in mourning.

它們對處於悲痛中的人來說可以起到治療作用。

But there might also be a dark side to synthetic partners designed to cater to anyone's physical and emotional whims.

但是，旨在迎合任何人的身體和情感奇想的合成夥伴可能也有黑暗的一面。

What if they reinforce racist and sexist stereotypes or contribute to the exploitation and dehumanization of real people?

如果它們強化了種族主義和性別歧視的陳規定型觀念，或者助長了對真實人物的剝削和非人化，那怎麼辦？

The fields of robotics and artificial intelligence are constantly advancing

機器人技術和人工智能領域正在不斷進步

and the pros and cons are going to come to the forefront eventually.

而利弊最終都會浮出水面。

Who knows if it'll be in 15 or 50 years,

誰知道是15年後還是50年後。

but one day there will be machines that people connect with in a way that was once

但有一天，人們會以一種曾經的方式與機器聯繫起來。

only the domain of humans and science fiction.

只屬於人類和科幻小說的範疇。

If you want to see more about androids and take a stroll through the uncanny valley, check out this video here.

如果你想看到更多關於機器人的資訊，並在不可思議的山谷中漫步，請查看這裡的視頻。

So what do you think about AI that's so human you catch feelings for it?

那麼，你如何看待如此人性化的人工智能，你會對它產生感情嗎？

Do you think you could have an AI friend or romantic partner,

你認為你可以有一個人工智能朋友或浪漫的合作伙伴。

or would knowing they're a machine be a dealbreaker?

還是知道他們是一臺機器就會破壞交易？

Let us know in the comments, don't forget to like and subscribe, and thanks for watching Seeker!

請在評論中告訴我們，不要忘了喜歡和訂閱，並感謝觀看《探索者》!