On using ‘wonder’ to connect humans with machines
By Sandi Boga, Director, Product Innovation at ATB Financial
I’m fascinated by what connects people to — or repels them from — intelligent machines.
According to one theory, it could be cultural. In cultures where God played a large role, people were taught that it was a punishable sin to create something in their own image.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4)
In Asian cultures with a Shinto Animism influence, people imbue inanimate objects with a benevolent spirit. These objects interact with humans in a positive way, keeping everyone’s best interests at heart in a spirit of cooperation and care. This may explain why social and eldercare robots (and many other technologies) are so readily accepted in China and Japan, but less so in Canada and the USA.
I’ve witnessed this distrust of technology in my role at ATB Financial, as we explore the future of robots and AI in our industry. In response to our work with Pepper, a 4-foot-tall friendly humanoid robot with a penchant for dancing, I have seen grown adult men recoil in fear (listing various pop culture references as the reason for their distrust). People never react that way when we test conversational AI on the Google Home or Amazon Alexa.
In many other cases, however, people are curious about Pepper and want to know what she can do. The very young and very old have a sense of wonder for Pepper. They ask her questions about herself and want to see her dance or pose for selfies. Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have similar findings when they compare social robots to AI-powered home speakers. They agree that it’s the social aspect that draws the young and old in — only later do users start to look for utility. The reverse is true for adults, who typically look for utility first by asking “what can the AI do for me?”
Let’s explore the idea of connection through wonder. Wonder occurs when technology and creativity intersect. It is when the machine does something you don’t expect, draws you in, and connects with you through it’s behavior. This is where our social scientists, artists and other non-technical professionals play a huge role, as they are the ones who can create this magic for people.
Humanity is in its infancy when it comes to understanding how to interact with machines, so they seem separate — different — from us. But we are starting to see children’s educational toys, like Cognimates, use adaptive modelling to change behavior when interacting with children. Sometimes the AI is the novice, other times it is the expert. The children are learning that what they say or do actually teaches the machine. They have agency over the AI, thus connecting them in a wholly different way to intelligent machines.
What are the implications for the generation growing up with AI? I think it means that wonder will come from helping an intelligent machine learn and grow, so that we can live alongside it in a way that benefits us both. We can use affective computing to ensure that machines are learning from our facial expressions and emotional responses. But, algorithms aside, what will make the machines seem more ‘human’, more relatable?
Again, this is a question for our social scientists, artists and creatives to answer. And they are already starting to do so. They are helping us experience the ‘wonder’ that comes with influencing how a machine, or even a molecule, acts. Think about Scratch, the online coding community for kids. Or check out educational kits like EZ Robot, which let you build your own robots, or ‘BioArt’ from AminoLabs, which allow you to create art from bacteria. The ‘art’ is the hook, but it’s the science that sticks.
To evolve human-machine interaction, I think we need to work together across academic disciplines to create the wonder required to eliminate fear, to compel us to move forward as two distinct species, together. It’s time to break down the walls between the technologists and creatives and look holistically at human-machine interaction so that wonder is a part of every AI created.
In other words — for us to truly connect with machines, we first need to connect with each other.
To learn more about our work around intelligent machines, visit www.atbalphabeta.com. Follow Sandi on LinkedIn or on Twitter @sandiboga.
