Anne Scherer: Why we're more honest with machines than people | TED

00:11:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3-RILrQl0

Resumen

TLDRThe video explores the complexities of social interaction, particularly in contexts where individuals break established norms, such as discussing private topics at inappropriate times. It highlights a barbecue event where adult social rules were broken, leading to awkward silence and awkward laughter. The speaker investigates how social norms are learnt and what impact they have on communication and perception, linking this to human and machine interactions. The role of technology in providing judgment-free interaction is emphasized, with USC researchers' virtual interviewer facilitating soldiers' admissions of health issues by removing societal judgment barriers. Furthermore, the video presents research on humanlike versus machine-like chatbots, finding that people interact more openly with machines not perceived as human. This analysis suggests how technology, when appearing less human, can foster honesty without the worry of social disapproval, contrasting with social media's pressures for approval and perfection. Machines, therefore, offer a nonjudgmental space reminding us to apply similar listening in real life.

Para llevar

  • 🔥 Discussing taboo topics like sex, money, or politics breaks social norms during gatherings.
  • 😶 Social norms are largely unwritten and inform behavior based on expected social sanctions.
  • 🤖 Virtual avatars like SimSensei facilitate open conversations by removing societal judgments.
  • 🗣️ Humanlike chatbots often invite more socially curated responses compared to machine-like bots.
  • 📱 Social media amplifies the quest for social approval and self-presentation.
  • 💡 Less humanlike machines can encourage individuals to open up honestly, free of social pressure.
  • 👨‍👩‍👦 A child's commentary at a barbecue exemplifies innocently breaking adult social norms.
  • 👩‍💻 Machines offer a unique nonjudgmental avenue for self-expression, unlike social media.
  • 🚫 Social norms adapt over time, as shown by the changing perceptions of handshaking.
  • 😇 Being nonjudgmental in conversations can lead to more honest and open interactions.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker recounts an awkward social incident at a barbecue where an adult breaks the social norm by talking about his sex life, resulting in silence followed by laughter when a child innocently comments on his parents' sexual activities. This highlights how social norms prevent open discussions on taboo topics like sex, money, or politics in social settings. The speaker explains that society dictates behavior through social rewards and punishments, pushing individuals to seek approval and avoid disapproval, often striving to present a perfect image to others, especially amplified by social media. This can create fear of judgment in sensitive situations, like soldiers opening up about mental health issues, which a study found might be alleviated through the use of technology in the form of non-judgmental digital avatars like SimSensei.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:11:18

    The speaker describes how digital avatars can alleviate social pressure and encourage open communication, as seen with SimSensei, a non-judgmental digital interviewer used by soldiers. The speaker discusses a study involving humanlike and machine-like chatbots, revealing that more socially desirable responses were given to humanlike bots due to perceived judgment, especially on personal topics such as the number of sexual partners. This suggests that machines should remain more machine-like to foster genuine openness. The research suggests non-judgmental machines can counteract societal pressure for perfection, underlining the importance of acceptance and openness in conversations, a principle machines can help reinforce.

Mapa mental

Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas

  • What are unwritten social norms discussed in the video?

    Unwritten social norms include not discussing sex, money, or politics at the dinner table. These norms are learned through social rewards and punishments.

  • How do social norms change over time?

    Social norms change as society evolves. For example, shaking hands was once expected, but attitudes have shifted due to events like the coronavirus pandemic.

  • What was the virtual interviewer developed by USC researchers?

    USC researchers developed a virtual interviewer called SimSensei, a digital avatar used for interviewing soldiers to remove social judgment.

  • How do machines help people open up?

    Machines, by removing social judgment, help people to open up more easily in conversations, as shown in research with soldiers and digital avatars.

  • What did the research with chatbots reveal?

    The research found that people applied more social rules with humanlike bots and gave more socially desirable responses compared to mechanistic bots.

  • Why might people prefer interacting with machine-like bots?

    People might prefer machine-like bots because they present less social judgment, allowing individuals to be more honest and open.

  • How do social media affect self-presentation?

    Social media heightens the need for social approval and self-presentation, pushing individuals to portray themselves in socially desirable ways.

  • What lesson can machines teach us about conversation?

    Machines can teach us to be nonjudgmental in conversations, allowing individuals to express themselves freely without fear of judgment.

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Subtítulos
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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:00
    Transcriber:
  • 00:00:12
    Now, a few years back, I was having a barbecue with friends and family.
  • 00:00:17
    As usual, we talked about the weather, the good food or TV shows to watch.
  • 00:00:21
    So nothing out of the ordinary
  • 00:00:24
    until one attendee casually mentioned
  • 00:00:27
    that he and his wife hadn't had sex in a long time.
  • 00:00:33
    As you can imagine, what followed was an awkward silence.
  • 00:00:38
    Until a six-year-old boy attending the barbecue with his parents
  • 00:00:42
    blurted out that his parents had lots of sex
  • 00:00:46
    and he could hear them all the time.
  • 00:00:49
    And then the barbecue continued as if nothing had happened.
  • 00:00:55
    Now, when I'm not having barbecues,
  • 00:00:57
    I am researching how people interact with each other
  • 00:01:00
    and how that transfers to their interactions with technologies,
  • 00:01:05
    so not all too surprisingly,
  • 00:01:07
    after this very unique social interaction at the barbecue,
  • 00:01:11
    I was left wondering why we, the audience,
  • 00:01:15
    were so greatly ignoring what the adult so openly shared with us that evening.
  • 00:01:21
    So why the silence and then the laughter at the boy's comment?
  • 00:01:26
    Well, both of them were breaking a social rule:
  • 00:01:30
    never talk about sex, money or politics at a dinner table.
  • 00:01:34
    We assume that an adult knows this rule and sticks to it.
  • 00:01:39
    So when such expectations are broken,
  • 00:01:41
    we sanction the offender accordingly -- in our case, with ignorance.
  • 00:01:47
    When a child, however, breaks such a rule,
  • 00:01:50
    we attribute this to their naive understanding of our social manners
  • 00:01:55
    and up to a certain age at least, do not openly sanction them for it.
  • 00:02:02
    Clearly, there is no official rule book for socially appropriate behaviors
  • 00:02:08
    or even socially accepted dinner topics.
  • 00:02:12
    In fact, our social norms are usually unwritten codes of conduct,
  • 00:02:16
    and they change over time as we as a society change and learn.
  • 00:02:22
    Less than a year ago, for instance,
  • 00:02:24
    it was considered impolite not to shake hands
  • 00:02:27
    when introducing yourself to someone.
  • 00:02:30
    A few months and the worldwide spread of the coronavirus later
  • 00:02:34
    and shaking hands may be something to be frowned upon
  • 00:02:38
    and maybe even a thing of the past.
  • 00:02:41
    The way we learn these social rules then
  • 00:02:44
    is mostly by social rewards and social punishments.
  • 00:02:48
    Now, as social animals,
  • 00:02:51
    we aim for social approval and want to avoid other's disapproval.
  • 00:02:56
    So we act in a way that is socially accepted
  • 00:02:59
    and present ourselves in a socially desirable way to others.
  • 00:03:04
    So we want to be seen as an individual that is smart, successful,
  • 00:03:09
    sporty and active, creative, empathic and possibly all that at once.
  • 00:03:17
    Now, through social media, our strive for social approval,
  • 00:03:21
    and with it, our need for self-presentation and perfection
  • 00:03:26
    has skyrocketed.
  • 00:03:29
    Clearly, there is a flip side to all of this.
  • 00:03:33
    In any social interaction, we do not only look for others' approval,
  • 00:03:37
    but we also constantly fear other's disapproval
  • 00:03:41
    when we cannot live up to their expectations.
  • 00:03:45
    Just consider an adult with incontinence problems
  • 00:03:48
    or a drug addiction.
  • 00:03:50
    If he or she had to talk to a health care professional,
  • 00:03:55
    what would you expect to find?
  • 00:03:57
    Or if a soldier returned from combat
  • 00:04:00
    and had to talk about their fears or problems,
  • 00:04:03
    do you think they would open up easily?
  • 00:04:07
    A team of USC researchers examined just that.
  • 00:04:11
    So they looked at the data from the US Army.
  • 00:04:14
    Traditionally, soldiers had to be interviewed
  • 00:04:17
    by a human health care professional when returning from combat
  • 00:04:21
    to check if everything is OK.
  • 00:04:23
    Now, interestingly,
  • 00:04:25
    the researchers found that soldiers hardly reported any problems
  • 00:04:28
    after their returns.
  • 00:04:31
    Surely many of them were truly fine,
  • 00:04:33
    but the researchers also suspected
  • 00:04:36
    that many soldiers did not dare to share their problems openly.
  • 00:04:41
    After all, soldiers are trained to be strong and brave individuals
  • 00:04:47
    that learn not to show any weaknesses.
  • 00:04:50
    So openly admitting to have health problems,
  • 00:04:54
    to have trouble sleeping or to have nightmares
  • 00:04:57
    is not something easy to do for soldiers.
  • 00:05:00
    The question then ultimately becomes
  • 00:05:03
    how can we help individuals open up more easily
  • 00:05:06
    and worry less about the judgment of others?
  • 00:05:11
    Well, remember what I said earlier.
  • 00:05:14
    We expect social evaluation in any social interaction.
  • 00:05:19
    So how about we remove the social from the interaction?
  • 00:05:24
    This is exactly what the team in the US did.
  • 00:05:27
    In fact, they developed a virtual interviewer called SimSensei.
  • 00:05:32
    So SimSensei is a digital avatar that has a humanlike appearance
  • 00:05:37
    and can interact with clients through natural conversations.
  • 00:05:41
    Now, when returning from combat,
  • 00:05:43
    soldiers were now interviewed by the digital avatar
  • 00:05:47
    instead of that human health care professional.
  • 00:05:50
    And what happened? Well, once SimSensei was introduced,
  • 00:05:55
    soldiers reported more health problems,
  • 00:05:58
    like having nightmares or trouble sleeping.
  • 00:06:02
    So machines can help remove the social from the equation
  • 00:06:07
    and help people open up more easily.
  • 00:06:10
    But careful, not all machines are created equal.
  • 00:06:14
    Considering the tremendous advancements in technologies like computer graphics
  • 00:06:19
    or natural language processing,
  • 00:06:21
    machines have become increasingly humanlike.
  • 00:06:25
    The question then ultimately becomes,
  • 00:06:27
    which rules do we apply in these interactions?
  • 00:06:32
    Do we still apply social rules when we interact with humanlike machines?
  • 00:06:39
    So do we start to worry about social judgment again?
  • 00:06:43
    This is exactly what I examine in my research.
  • 00:06:46
    Together with colleagues, we have developed a series of chatbots.
  • 00:06:51
    These chatbots were programmed to simulate text-based conversations
  • 00:06:56
    and they were designed to be either very social and humanlike
  • 00:07:01
    or very functional and machine-like.
  • 00:07:03
    So, for instance,
  • 00:07:06
    our humanlike bots use so-called speed disfluencies
  • 00:07:10
    and social language cues,
  • 00:07:12
    like these "ohos", "ahas", "hmms" we humans love to use in our conversations
  • 00:07:19
    to signal our presence to conversation partners.
  • 00:07:23
    In contrast, our machine-like bots
  • 00:07:26
    lacked such social cues and simply kept to the talking points.
  • 00:07:30
    Since we were interested in how much people would open up
  • 00:07:33
    in these different conversations,
  • 00:07:35
    we ask participants a number of questions,
  • 00:07:38
    which gradually grew more and more personal,
  • 00:07:42
    up to the point where we would ask participants
  • 00:07:44
    to share possibly very delicate information about themselves.
  • 00:07:49
    Now, considering the findings from prior research,
  • 00:07:52
    such as the one from the US Army before,
  • 00:07:55
    we expected that people would apply more social rules
  • 00:08:00
    in their interactions with these humanlike bots
  • 00:08:03
    and act accordingly.
  • 00:08:05
    So what did we find?
  • 00:08:08
    Well, exactly that.
  • 00:08:10
    So participants interacting with our humanlike bots
  • 00:08:14
    were more concerned about social evaluation
  • 00:08:17
    and as a result of this social apprehension,
  • 00:08:20
    they also gave more socially desirable responses.
  • 00:08:25
    Let me give you an example.
  • 00:08:27
    One of the most delicate questions that we asked participants
  • 00:08:30
    was the number of prior sex partners they had had.
  • 00:08:35
    When interacting with our humanlike bot,
  • 00:08:38
    men reported to have significantly more prior sex partners
  • 00:08:43
    and women reported to have significantly less
  • 00:08:46
    than those men and women interacting with our mechanistic bot.
  • 00:08:52
    So what does this all tell us?
  • 00:08:53
    Well, first, men want to look good by having more prior sex partners
  • 00:08:58
    and women by having less.
  • 00:09:01
    Clearly, this already says a lot
  • 00:09:02
    about what the different sexes consider socially desirable
  • 00:09:07
    and how our expectations in society still differ across genders.
  • 00:09:13
    But this opens up a whole new topic
  • 00:09:16
    that I will better leave for other experts to discuss.
  • 00:09:20
    Second, and maybe more importantly, from a consumer psychology perspective.
  • 00:09:26
    People open up more easily when they interact with machines
  • 00:09:31
    that are apparently just that -- machines.
  • 00:09:34
    Today, a lot of sweat, money and tears
  • 00:09:37
    is put into making machines basically indistinguishable from us.
  • 00:09:43
    Now, this research can show
  • 00:09:44
    that sometimes letting a machine be a machine is actually a good thing.
  • 00:09:51
    Which brings me to my third point.
  • 00:09:54
    These machine interactions have been highly criticized at times.
  • 00:09:58
    So you may have heard that Siri, Alexa or others
  • 00:10:01
    make your kids rude or impolite.
  • 00:10:05
    Hopefully, this research can show you
  • 00:10:07
    a great upside of these machine interactions.
  • 00:10:11
    In times of social media and our constant hunt for the next “like,”
  • 00:10:16
    machines can give us grownups --
  • 00:10:19
    help us find that inner child again
  • 00:10:21
    and give our constant need for self-presentation and perfection
  • 00:10:26
    a time-out.
  • 00:10:28
    For once, we do not need to worry
  • 00:10:30
    if the number of prior sex partners is too high or too low,
  • 00:10:34
    and instead it is OK to simply be who we are.
  • 00:10:40
    Ultimately, then, I think that these machines can remind us
  • 00:10:44
    of a central element of what makes a good conversation partner:
  • 00:10:49
    being nonjudgmental.
  • 00:10:52
    so the next time you might encounter
  • 00:10:54
    a unique social situation like mine at the barbecue,
  • 00:10:58
    try to be less judgmental
  • 00:10:59
    when another person openly shares
  • 00:11:01
    their thoughts, feelings and problems with you.
  • 00:11:05
    Many machines do this already, and maybe so should we.
  • 00:11:09
    Thank you very much.
Etiquetas
  • social norms
  • technology
  • judgment
  • virtual interviewers
  • chatbots
  • self-presentation
  • social media
  • openness
  • honesty
  • nonjudgmental