《第十三篇 Affectionate Androids》



Computers are now powerful enough to allow the age of humanoidrobots to dawn1. And it won’t be long befe we will see realistic cyber companions, completewith skin, dexterity, intelligence.They will be programmed to tend to yourevery need.



Will we ever want to marry robots? Artificial intelligenceresearcher David Levy has published a book claiming human-robot relationshipswill become popular in the next few decades. ____1____



Will humans really be able to fm deep emotional attachments tomachines? It will, in fact, be relatively easy to fm these strong attachmentsbecause the human mind loves to anthropomphize: to give human attributes toother creatures—even objects.



F example, researchers in San Diego recently put a small humanoidrobot in with a toddler playgroup f several months. ____2____The childrenended up treating it as a fellow toddler. When it lay down because itsbatteries were flat，the kids even covered it with a blanket.



In a few decades, when humanoid robots with plastic skin look feel very real, will people want to fm relationships with them? What if thebots could hold a conversation? And be programmed to bethe perfect companions—soul mates,even? ____3____ And like those toddlers inthe experiment, they will be veryaccepting of them.



The next question, then, is whether there is anything wrong withhaving an emotional relationship with a machine. Even today there are peoplewho fm deep attachments to their pets use them as substitutes f friends even children. Few consider that unethical.



____4____ F those who always seem to end upmarrying the wrong man woman, a robotic Mr. Ms. Right could be mighty tempting. As the father ofartificial intelligence, Marvin Minsky, put it when asked about the ethics oflonely older people fming close relationships with robots: “If a robot hadall the virtues of a person was smarter me understing, why wouldthe elderly bother talking to other grumpy old people?”



A robot could be programmed to be as dumb smart, as independent subservient, as an owner desired. And that’s the bigdisadvantage. Having the perfect robot partner will damage the ability to fmequally deep human-human relationships. People will always seem imperfectincomparison. When you’re behaving badly, a good friend will tell you.____5____



People in relationships have to learn to adapt toeach other: toenjoy their common interests to deal with their differences.It makes usricher, stronger, wiser. A robot companion will be perfect at the start. However,there will be nothing to move the relationship to grow to greater heights.



　　词汇：



affectionate adj. 深情的



dexterityn. 灵巧，敏捷



anthropomphize v. 赋于人性，人格化



grumpy adj. 脾气暴躁的



cyber adj. 计算机的



tendv. 照料



bot n. 机器人



subservient adj. 屈从的，奉承的



　　注释：



1.Computers are now powerful enough to allow the age of humanoidrobots to dawn：计算机技术已经足够成熟，能够支持人形机器人的诞生和普及，进入人形机器人的时代。



　　练习：



A.It’s easier to have a robot companion instead of a human friend.



B.But a sophisticated robot will probably be even me attractive.



C.And if you want to go ahead tie the knot with your specialelectronic friend，Levy saidthat such marriages will be socially acceptable by around2050.



D.However, few owners will program their robots to point out theirflaws.



E.Maybe your generation could resist, but eventually there will be ageneration of people who grow up with humanoid robots as a nmal part of life.



F.The bot knew each child because it was programmed with face voice recognition， it giggled when tickled.