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，吉波跟瓦力的机器人女友有点像。无论是吉波——一个真正的机器人，还是瓦力的女友——皮克斯动画片中虚构的一个角色，其外观都像是未来范儿的苹果产品：反光的白色塑料、圆滑的曲线、一块黑色屏幕做成的“脸”以及流畅的旋转动作。

但就其存在的意义而言，吉波略微更接近罗西——20世纪60年代动画系列片《杰森一家》中的机器人女仆；而吉波的操作系统更类似于萨曼莎采用的操作系统，萨曼莎是2013年斯派克·琼斯执导的电影《她》中的人工智能角色。（一个主要区别：根据其制造者的说法，吉波是位男性。）

吉波被称作“家用机器人”，因为它能看、能听、能说、能学，而且能帮家庭成员处理家里的各种事务。它——他？——可以用自然的语言表达自己的意思，从而“与人互动”，运用“社交和情绪上的暗示，从而使你们能更好地相互理解”。吉波的设计用途是当一个伙伴。

我当然得见见吉波。于是，我去了曼哈顿中城一个酒店的房间，两个吉波机器人及其创造者辛西娅·布雷齐尔博士在那里等我。事实证明，这款机器人的功能还不完善。我观看了一段事先准备好的演示，演示中，大约一英尺高的吉波扭过头直视我。一开始这让我放下戒心，觉得不过像身边跟了个监控摄像头。一旦他开始跟我说话，就显得更自然了——反正就像20世纪80年代科幻电影中的机器人那样自然。吉波不同于他那些不那么像机器人的同类或是智能手机，在有新信息向我传达时，他不会发出刺耳的嗡嗡声或叮叮声，而是有礼貌地说：“打扰了，埃琳。”等我答复之后，他才继续说话。

在房间里，吉波向我展示了他的转动、旋转和倾斜动作，还有他将搭载的某些程序。他用一个俗气的玩笑结束了表演，玩笑里的“包袱”让他笑得眼睛眯成了小月牙。

吉波可以发挥许多功能。他会讲儿童故事，也能用人脸识别功能拍摄家庭照片。他可以用Skype打电话，并处理一些人们通常会用电话进行的交流。吉波的设计初衷是让他待在家里，站在桌子或台面上。在一段演示视频中，一位单身男子下班回家，吉波和他打招呼，并主动询问要不要叫中餐外卖。在另一个场景中，一个女人在揉做面包的面团，吉波待在一旁。期间吉波插话提醒她说她的女儿很快就会来接她。“谢谢，吉波。”那个女人回答道，就像简·杰森（编注：《杰森一家》中的角色）在和罗西说话。

至于这些功能会不会产生什么影响——或促成家用机器人的销售——还有待商榷，但如果说有谁能搞清楚这一点，那应该是吉波的发明者。布雷齐尔一直致力于研究社交机器人，这从她在麻省理工学院读研究生时就开始了。年轻些的时候，她不明白为什么国家航空航天局都把机器人送到火星了，机器人却还没有进入人们家中。她推断，原因是那些机器人的设计用途不是社交。后来，布雷齐尔打造出首款社交机器人，名为“凯斯梅特”，意在供儿童使用。此后，她发表了关于社交机器人的大量研究成果，并在2010年就该主题在TED大会上发表了演讲。她认为，人们对类人机器人的回应方式和他们对真人的回应方式一样，能够传达表情的机器人可以增进人们的同理心、感情交流和合作，这是举止沉闷的那种机器人做不到的。

布雷齐尔说，吉波被特意设计成不像人类的样子。这样做的目的是创造一种她所谓的人性化体验。“因为这才是给人以力量的东西。”她说。试图接近人类长相的机器人终究显得有点太科幻。

人工智能无疑是许多美国人最为关注的一个话题，一方面是因为电影《她》，另一方面是一直以来人们在经济方面的担忧，担心机器人将使我们人类丢掉工作。《纽约时报》最近刊登了一篇题为《机器人护理员的未来》的文章，文章乐观地概述了机器人将如何照顾步入晚年的婴儿潮一代，减轻人们的负担：

“在理想的世界里，情况是这样的：当我们变老时，我们每个人都至少有一位善良又非常能干的护理员来满足我们身体和情感上的需求。但我们大多数人并非生活在理想世界里，而与不可靠或是粗暴的人相比，或者与根本无人照料相比，一个可靠的机器人可能会更好。”

在日本，机器人与痴呆症患者交谈，缓解了护士短缺的问题。据《纽约时报》称，瑞典等欧洲国家都有类似的生活辅助型机器人。

并非人人都欢迎这种新发展。“第三个机器时代就是这么搞砸的。”北卡罗来纳大学信息学院社会学教授泽伊内普·图菲克希撰文回应了《纽约时报》的文章。

“在我看来，将老人和儿童——特别是残疾儿童——安置在房间里，让机器人陪他们忙活，与此同时世界各地有很多人拼命想找份维持生计的工作，这真是比狄更斯式机械工业化的噩梦更糟糕，比卡夫卡笔下冷漠异化的工作场所更糟糕。”

“这放弃了保持人情味的愿望，通过关心来彼此联系的愿望，以及人们相互照顾的愿望。”

图菲克希认为，基于失业率数据，我们面临的问题不是护理员短缺。相反，她写道：“我们面临的是关怀短缺。”

同时，皮尤研究中心的一项新研究表明，对于机器人会促进经济发展还是有损经济发展，科技行业有影响力的人们之间存在分歧。一半多一点的受访者认为，机器人抢走的就业岗位不会多于其创造的就业岗位，因此最终会对经济产生积极影响。然而，另一半受访者对于有机器人参与的未来并没有那么乐观。

“不过，另外48%的受访者认为，在未来十年，机器人将取代大量白领和蓝领工人。这不仅会让人们失业，而且会扰乱社会秩序。”

布雷齐尔声称，吉波的设计初衷并非老年人的护理员，或是人力劳动的替代品。这款机器人旨在帮助老年用户独立地度过晚年。“吉波的用途是给人以力量，帮助人们做他们想做的事和需要做的事，”她说，“吉波不是用来代替人的。”

“很多人会有下意识的反应，”她补充道，“我们压根没打算创造出一个机器人护理员。我们所做的是使人们能够独立生活，并且在情感上与家人保持联系，因为这才是最重要的。”

1. Wall-E：瓦力，皮克斯出品的动画长片《机器人总动员》（Wall-E）中的角色，是地球上最后一台垃圾清理机器人，后与来自外太空的机器人Eve相爱。

2. swivel [?sw?v（?）l] v. （使）旋转，（使）转动

3. raison dêtre：法语，意为“存在的理由”。

4. disarming [d?s?ɑ?（r）m??] adj. 消除敌意的；使人消气的

5. cheesy [?t?i?zi] adj. 〈俚〉粗陋的

6. punch line：（故事、戏剧、笑话等中的）妙句，关键语

7. knead [ni?d] vt. 揉成，捏制

8. demeanor [d??mi?n?（r）] n. 行为，举动

9. dementia [d??men??] n. [医]痴呆

10. the third machine age：在图菲克希的文章中，第一个机器时代是指机器取代体力劳动，第二个机器时代是指机器取代脑力劳动，而第三个机器时代是指机器将取代情绪劳动（emotional labor）。

11. abdication [??bd??ke??（?）n] n. （权力等的）放弃

12. net [net] adj. 最终的，结局的

13. kneejerk [?ni?d???（r）k] adj. 〈口〉（反应等）自动的，容易预测的