第十三篇 Affectionate Androids
Computers are now powerful enough to allow the age of humanoid robots to dawn1. And it won’t be long before we will see realistic cyber companions, complete with skin, dexterity, and intelligence.They will be programmed to tend to your every need.
Will we ever want to marry robots? Artificial intelligence researcher David Levy has published a book claiming human-robot relationships will become popular in the next few decades. ____1____
Will humans really be able to form deep emotional attachments to machines? It will, in fact, be relatively easy to form these strong attachments because the human mind loves to anthropomorphize: to give human attributes to other creatures—even objects.
For example, researchers in San Diego recently put a small humanoid robot in with a toddler playgroup for several months. ____2____The children ended up treating it as a fellow toddler. When it lay down because its batteries were flat，the kids even covered it with a blanket.
In a few decades, when humanoid robots with plastic skin look and feel very real, will people want to form relationships with them? What if the bots could hold a conversation? And be programmed to bethe perfect companions—soul mates, even? ____3____ And like those toddlers inthe experiment, they will be very accepting of them.
The next question, then, is whether there is anything wrong with having an emotional relationship with a machine. Even today there are people who form deep attachments to their pets and use them as substitutes for friends or even children. Few consider that unethical.
____4____ For those who always seem to end upmarrying the wrong man or woman, a robotic Mr. or Ms. Right could be mighty tempting. As the father of artificial intelligence, Marvin Minsky, put it when asked about the ethics of lonely older people forming close relationships with robots: “If a robot had all the virtues of a person and was smarter and more understanding, why would the elderly bother talking to other grumpy old people?”
A robot could be programmed to be as dumb or smart, as independent or subservient, as an owner desired. And that’s the big disadvantage. Having the perfect robot partner will damage the ability to form equally deep human-human relationships. People will always seem imperfect incomparison. When you’re behaving badly, a good friend will tell you. ____5____
People in relationships have to learn to adapt toeach other: to enjoy their common interests and to deal with their differences.It makes us richer, stronger, and wiser. A robot companion will be perfect at the start. However, there will be nothing to move the relationship to grow to greater heights.
詞匯：
affectionate adj. 深情的
dexterityn. 靈巧，敏捷
anthropomorphize v. 賦于人性，人格化
grumpy adj. 脾氣暴躁的
cyber adj. 計算機的
tendv. 照料
bot n. 機器人
subservient adj. 屈從的，奉承的
注釋：
1.Computers are now powerful enough to allow the age of humanoid robots to dawn：計算機技術(shù)已經(jīng)足夠成熟，能夠支持人形機器人的誕生和普及，進入人形機器人的時代。
練習：
A.It’s easier to have a robot companion instead of a human friend.
B.But a sophisticated robot will probably be even more attractive.
C.And if you want to go ahead and tie the knot with your special electronic friend，Levy saidthat such marriages will be socially acceptable by around 2050.
D.However, few owners will program their robots to point out their flaws.
E.Maybe your generation could resist, but eventually there will be a generation of people who grow up with humanoid robots as a normal part of life.
F.The bot knew each child because it was programmed with face and voice recognition，and it giggled when tickled.
答案與題解：
1.C 前文講到David在書中認為人與機器人的關(guān)系在幾十年后將變得普遍，因此接下來應(yīng)該繼續(xù)講這種普遍性是怎樣的。
2.F 前文講在圣地亞哥的一個實驗，研究人員將機器人放在兒童游樂園里，要填的句子應(yīng)該是介紹這個機器人 醫(yī)學.全.在線整.理.搜集。
3.E 前文提了幾個問題，是關(guān)于我們對人與機器人關(guān)系的看法，而后文講“他們”會樂于接受，因此要填的句子應(yīng)該是兩類人的對比。E項講我們這一代人可能會反對，但下一代人就不一定了，符合意思。
4.B 前文講有人和寵物發(fā)展深厚關(guān)系，后面講的是與機器人發(fā)展深厚關(guān)系的吸引人之處，因此這里應(yīng)該講機器人做伴侶的好處。
5.D 前文講好朋友會在你犯錯的時候指出來，這里應(yīng)該是表示對比——機器人不會這么做。
