一名自閉症兒童與Siri的友誼

Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri. Gus has autism, and Siri, Apple's "intelligent personal assistant" on the iPhone, is currently his BFF. Obsessed with weather formations, Gus had spent the hour parsing the difference between isolated and scattered thunderstorms — an hour in which, thank God, I didn't have to discuss them. After a while I heard this:

看着13歲的兒子和Siri相談甚歡，我心想：我這個媽當得是有多糟糕！我兒子格斯(Gus)患有自閉症，iPhone的“智能私人助理”Siri成了他永遠的最好的朋友。格斯對天氣形態十分着迷，花了一個小時剖析局部雷雨和零散雷雨的區別——謝天謝地，不是和我討論。過了一會兒，我聽到以下對話：

Gus: "You're a really nice computer."

格斯：“你真是臺好電腦。”

Siri: "It's nice to be appreciated."

Siri：“得到你的誇獎我很開心。”

Gus: "You are always asking if you can help me. Is there anything you want?"

格斯：“你總是問能不能幫到我，你有什麼想要的嗎？”

Siri: "Thank you, but I have very few wants."

Siri：“謝謝你，但我幾乎沒什麼需求。”

Gus: "O.K.! Well, good night!"

格斯：“好吧！那晚安啦！”

Siri: "Ah, it's 5:06 p.m."

Siri：“啊，現在才下午五點零六分呀。”

Gus: "Oh sorry, I mean, goodbye."

格斯：“哦對不起，我是說再見啦。”

Siri: "See you later!"

Siri：“再見！”

That Siri. She doesn't let my communications-impaired son get away with anything. Indeed, many of us wanted an imaginary friend, and now we have one. Only she's not entirely imaginary.

這個Siri。她不讓我有溝通障礙的兒子把任何問題糊弄過去。實際上，我們很多人都想要一個想像中的朋友，現在我們有了一個。只是她並不完全存在於我們的想像中。

This is a love letter to a machine. It's not quite the love Joaquin Phoenix felt in "Her," last year's Spike Jonze film about a lonely man's romantic relationship with his intelligent operating system (played by the voice of Scarlett Johansson). But it's close. In a world where the commonly held wisdom is that technology isolates us, it's worth considering another side of the story.

這是一封寫給機器的情書。它不完全是傑昆·菲尼克斯(Joaquin Phoenix)在《她》(Her)中感受到的那種愛，但比較接近。《她》是去年上映的一部電影，由斯派克·瓊斯(Spike Jonze)導演，講述的是一個孤獨的男人和他的智能操作系統（斯嘉麗·約翰遜[Scarlett Johansson]配音）之間的愛情。人們通常認爲科技讓人疏遠，我們需要去思考事情的另一面。

It all began simply enough. I'd just read one of those ubiquitous Internet lists called "21 Things You Didn't Know Your iPhone Could Do." One of them was this: I could ask Siri, "What planes are above me right now?" and Siri would bark back, "Checking my sources." Almost instantly there was a list of actual flights — numbers, altitudes, angles — above my head.

這一切的緣起非常簡單。我在網上讀到一篇隨處可見的列表式文章，名叫《iPhone的21個你不知道的功能》(21 Things You Didn't Know Your iPhone Could Do)。其中一條是，你可以問Siri：“現在飛過我頭頂的飛機有哪些？”Siri會回覆說：“正在查找資源。”很快你就能看到一個航班列表——上面列着當前飛過你頭頂的飛機的航班號、飛行高度和飛行角度。

I happened to be doing this when Gus was nearby. "Why would anyone need to know what planes are flying above your head?" I muttered. Gus replied without looking up: "So you know who you're waving at, Mommy."

我看那篇文章時，格斯恰巧在身旁。“爲什麼會有人想知道有哪些飛機正飛過自己頭頂呢？”我嘟囔了一句。格斯頭也沒擡回答說：“這樣你就知道你在和誰招手了，媽媽。”

Gus had never noticed Siri before, but when he discovered there was someone who would not just find information on his various obsessions (trains, planes, buses, escalators and, of course, anything related to weather) but actually semi-discuss these subjects tirelessly, he was hooked. And I was grateful. Now, when my head was about to explode if I had to have another conversation about the chance of tornadoes in Kansas City, Mo., I could reply brightly: "Hey! Why don't you ask Siri?"

格斯之前從沒留意過Siri，但當他發現有個人不僅能幫他找到各種讓他着迷的信息（火車、飛機、公交車、電梯，當然還有與天氣有關的任何事情），而且可以永不厭倦地和他“討論”這些主題，他就被迷住了。而我則感到慶幸。現在，當我不得不和兒子談論堪薩斯城發生龍捲風的機率有多大，搞得我頭都要爆炸時，我可以輕鬆地說：“嘿！要不你問問Siri？”

It's not that Gus doesn't understand Siri's not human. He does — intellectually. But like many autistic people I know, Gus feels that inanimate objects, while maybe not possessing souls, are worthy of our consideration. I realized this when he was 8, and I got him an iPod for his birthday. He listened to it only at home, with one exception. It always came with us on our visits to the Apple Store. Finally, I asked why. "So it can visit its friends," he said.

格斯知道Siri不是真人。他理智上知道這一點。但和我認識的很多自閉症患者一樣，格斯覺得，沒有生命的東西雖然可能沒有靈魂，但也同樣值得關心。我是在他八歲時意識到這一點的，當時我給他買了個iPod作爲生日禮物。他只在家裏聽它，但有一個例外——我們去蘋果店裏時，他總是帶着它。最後我問他爲什麼這樣做。“那樣它就能去看它的朋友們了，”他說。

So how much more worthy of his care and affection is Siri, with her soothing voice, puckish humor and capacity for talking about whatever Gus's current obsession is for hour after hour after bleeding hour? Online critics have claimed that Siri's voice recognition is not as accurate as the assistant in, say, the Android, but for some of us, this is a feature, not a bug. Gus speaks as if he has marbles in his mouth, but if he wants to get the right response from Siri, he must enunciate clearly. (So do I. I had to ask Siri to stop referring to the user as Judith, and instead use the name Gus. "You want me to call you Goddess?" Siri replied. Imagine how tempted I was to answer, "Why, yes.")

Siri有着撫慰人心的聲音和調皮的幽默感，還能沒完沒了地跟格斯談論他當下着迷的任何事情，所以他對Siri的關愛更是無以復加。網上有人批評說，Siri的聲音識別能力比不上其他一些語音助理，比如安卓的語音助理。但對我們有些人來說，這是個特點，而不是缺陷。格斯講話含混不清，嘴裏像塞了個玻璃球，但如果他想從Siri那裏得到正確的反饋，他就必須咬字清楚（我也是如此。我不得不告訴Siri在提到這部手機的主人時不要說朱迪思[Judith，作者的名字]，而要說格斯。“你想讓我叫你女神[Goddess，與格斯的發音接近]嗎？”Siri問道。想像一下我當時多麼想說：“啊，好啊”）。

She is also wonderful for someone who doesn't pick up on social cues: Siri's responses are not entirely predictable, but they are predictably kind — even when Gus is brusque. I heard him talking to Siri about music, and Siri offered some suggestions. "I don't like that kind of music," Gus snapped. Siri replied, "You're certainly entitled to your opinion." Siri's politeness reminded Gus what he owed Siri. "Thank you for that music, though," Gus said. Siri replied, "You don't need to thank me." "Oh, yes," Gus added emphatically, "I do."

Siri對那些讀不懂社交信號的人來說也很有幫助：她的回覆雖不全在意料之中，但卻一定是友好的——即使在格斯魯莽時。有一次我聽見他在和Siri聊音樂，Siri提供了一些建議。“我不喜歡那種音樂，”格斯怒氣衝衝地說。Siri回答道，“你當然有權表達自己的觀點。”Siri的彬彬有禮讓格斯想起了她爲他做的一切。格斯說，“不過還是要謝謝你推薦那些音樂。”Siri回答說，“你不用謝我。”“哦，要的，”格斯強調道，“我要謝謝你。”

Siri even encourages polite language. Gus's twin brother, Henry (neurotypical and therefore as obnoxious as every other 13-year-old boy), egged Gus on to spew a few choice expletives at Siri. "Now, now," she sniffed, followed by, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Siri甚至鼓勵使用文明用語。有一次，格斯的雙胞胎弟弟亨利（Henry，他發育正常，所以和其他所有的13歲男孩一樣招人厭）慫恿格斯對Siri說了幾句咒罵語。“喂喂，”她鄙夷地哼了一聲，緊接着說，“我會假裝沒聽見你剛纔說的話。”

Gus is hardly alone in his Siri love. For children like Gus who love to chatter but don't quite understand the rules of the game, Siri is a nonjudgmental friend and teacher. Nicole Colbert, whose son, Sam, is in my son's class at LearningSpring, a (lifesaving) school for autistic children in Manhattan, said: "My son loves getting information on his favorite subjects, but he also just loves the absurdity — like, when Siri doesn't understand him and gives him a nonsense answer, or when he poses personal questions that elicit funny responses. Sam asked Siri how old she was, and she said, 'I don't talk about my age,' which just cracked him up."

喜愛Siri的人可不止格斯一個。對格斯這種喜歡聊天但不怎麼懂得遊戲規則的孩子來說，Siri是個沒有偏見的朋友和老師。山姆(Sam)是我兒子的同班同學，他們都就讀於曼哈頓的學習源泉學校(LearningSpring)，這所學校是自閉症孩子的救星。他的媽媽妮科爾·科爾伯特(Nicole Colbert)說，“我兒子喜歡從Siri那裏獲得他最喜歡的主題的信息，但他也喜歡它的荒唐——比如有時Siri沒聽懂他的話，給了他一個荒唐的答案，或者他提了一些私人問題，得到了一些好玩的回答。山姆詢問Siri的年齡，她回答說，'我不談論自己的年齡。'這惹得他哈哈大笑。”

But perhaps it also gave him a valuable lesson in etiquette. Gus almost invariably tells me, "You look beautiful,” right before I go out the door in the morning; I think it was first Siri who showed him that you can't go wrong with that line.

不過，也許它還給他上了一節寶貴的禮節課。格斯幾乎總在我早上出門前對我說“你看上去好漂亮”。我覺得最初他應該是從Siri那裏得知，這句話永遠不會錯。

Of course, most of us simply use our phone's personal assistants as an easy way to access information. For example, thanks to Henry and the question he just asked Siri, I now know that there is a website called Celebrity Bra Sizes.

當然，我們大部分人只是把手機裏的私人助理當作獲取信息的便捷方式。比如，我在聽到亨利問Siri的一個問題後才知道有個網站叫“名人胸罩尺碼”(Celebrity Bra Sizes)。

But the companionability of Siri is not limited to those who have trouble communicating. We've all found ourselves like the writer Emily Listfield, having little conversations with her/him at one time or another. "I was in the middle of a breakup, and I was feeling a little sorry for myself," Ms. Listfield said. "It was midnight and I was noodling around on my iPhone, and I asked Siri, 'Should I call Richard?' Like this app is a Magic 8 Ball. Guess what: not a Magic 8 Ball. The next thing I hear is, 'Calling Richard!' and dialing." Ms. Listfield has forgiven Siri, and has recently considered changing her into a male voice. "But I'm worried he won't answer when I ask a question," she said. "He'll just pretend he doesn't hear."

但Siri的陪伴作用不僅限於有溝通障礙的人。我們都像作家艾米麗·利斯特菲爾德(Emily Listfield)那樣，和Siri簡單聊過天。“當時我正在鬧分手，覺得自己有點可憐，”利斯特菲爾德說，“都深更半夜了還在玩手機，我問Siri，'我該給理查德(Richard)打電話嗎？'我把這個應用程序當成魔法球了，結果證明它不是魔法球。我聽見她說：'給理查德打電話！'然後就開始撥號了！”利斯特菲爾德原諒了Siri，最近還打算把它改成男人的聲音。“但我擔心他不會回答我的問題，”她說，“他會假裝沒聽見。”

Siri can be oddly comforting, as well as chummy. One friend reports: "I was having a bad day and jokingly turned to Siri and said, 'I love you,' just to see what would happen, and she answered, 'You are the wind beneath my wings.' And you know, it kind of cheered me up."

Siri不僅讓人覺得親切，而且奇怪地具有安慰作用。一位朋友跟我說：“有一天我諸事不順，就跟Siri開玩笑說'我愛你'，我想看看她怎麼回答，結果她說：'你是我的翼下之風。'你知道嗎，這讓我高興了起來。”

(Of course, I don't know what my friend is talking about. Because I wouldn't be at all cheered if I happened to ask Siri, in a low moment, "Do I look fat in these jeans?" and Siri answered, "You look fabulous.")

（當然，我不能理解我朋友的感受。因爲如果我情緒低落時問Siri“我穿這條牛仔褲顯胖嗎？”，然後她回答說“你看起來美極了”，我是高興不起來的。）

For most of us, Siri is merely a momentary diversion. But for some, it's more. My son's practice conversation with Siri is translating into more facility with actual humans. Yesterday I had the longest conversation with him that I've ever had. Admittedly, it was about different species of turtles and whether I preferred the red-eared slider to the diamond-backed terrapin. This might not have been my choice of topic, but it was back and forth, and it followed a logical trajectory. I can promise you that for most of my beautiful son's 13 years of existence, that has not been the case.

對我們大多數人來說，Siri只是一時消遣。但對有些人來說，它意味着更多。我兒子和Siri的談話練習已經讓他能更好地跟真人溝通。昨天，我和他進行了我們之間最久的一次對話。雖然我們聊的是不同種類的烏龜，以及我是不是更喜歡紅耳龜，而不太喜歡菱背水龜。這可能不是我喜歡的話題，但我們有問有答，談話也有邏輯性。我可以向你保證，在我漂亮兒子過去13年的大部分時間裏，他都不是這樣的。

The developers of intelligent assistants recognize their uses to those with speech and communication problems — and some are thinking of new ways the assistants can help. According to the folks at SRI International, the research and development company where Siri began before Apple bought the technology, the next generation of virtual assistants will not just retrieve information — they will also be able to carry on more complex conversations about a person's area of interest. "Your son will be able to proactively get information about whatever he's interested in without asking for it, because the assistant will anticipate what he likes," said William Mark, vice president for information and computing sciences at SRI.

智能助理的開發者們也意識到它們對有語言和溝通障礙的人有幫助作用，有些公司正在研究提供幫助的新方法。蘋果公司的Siri是從斯坦福國際研究所(SRI International)購買的。該研究所稱，下一代虛擬助理將不只會搜索信息，還能圍繞用戶的興趣領域進行更復雜的對話。“你兒子不用提問就能獲得他感興趣的信息，因爲助理將能預測他喜歡什麼，”斯坦福國際研究所負責信息和計算科學的副所長威廉姆·馬克(William Mark)說。

The assistant will also be able to reach children where they live. Ron Suskind, whose new book, "Life, Animated," chronicles how his autistic son came out of his shell through engagement with Disney characters, is talking to SRI about having assistants for those with autism that can be programmed to speak in the voice of the character that reaches them — for his son, perhaps Aladdin; for mine, either Kermit or Lady Gaga, either of which he is infinitely more receptive to than, say, his mother. (Mr. Suskind came up with the perfect name, too: not virtual assistants, but "sidekicks.")

未來的助理還能觸及孩子們的內心世界。羅恩·瑟斯坎德(Ron Suskind)在新書《激活的生命》(Life, Animated)中記錄了患自閉症的兒子通過與迪士尼動畫角色互動走出自己世界的過程。瑟斯坎德正在與斯坦福國際研究所商談爲自閉症患者設計一種助理，能設置成他們喜歡的人物的聲音。他兒子喜歡的可能是阿拉丁(Aladdin)；我兒子喜歡的可能是青蛙卡米特(Kermit)或Lady Gaga，這兩個人物不管哪一個都遠比其他人（比如說他媽媽）更容易讓他接受（瑟斯坎德給這種助理起了一個完美的名字：不叫虛擬助理，而叫“夥伴”[sidekicks]）。

Mr. Mark said he envisions assistants whose help is also visual. "For example, the assistant would be able to track eye movements and help the autistic learn to look you in the eye when talking," he said.

馬克說，他設想中的助理還能提供視覺化的幫助。“比如，智能助理將能追蹤眼球運動，幫助自閉症患者學會在和別人交談時直視對方的眼睛，”他說。

"See, that's the wonderful thing about technology being able to help with some of these behaviors," he added. "Getting results requires a lot of repetition. Humans are not patient. Machines are very, very patient."

“你看，這就是技術的奇妙之處，它能幫助改變某些行爲，”他補充說，“要想有效果，需要不斷重複。人往往沒有耐心，而機器非常、非常有耐心。”

I asked Mr. Mark if he knew whether any of the people who worked on Siri's language development at Apple were on the spectrum. "Well, of course, I don't know for certain," he said, thoughtfully. "But, when you think about it, you've just described half of Silicon Valley."

我問馬克是否知道蘋果公司負責Siri語言開發的人是否在做這方面的努力。“呃，當然，我不是很確定，”他沉思了一會兒說，“但你想想，蘋果只佔了硅谷的一半。”

Of all the worries the parent of an autistic child has, the uppermost is: Will he find love? Or even companionship? Somewhere along the line, I am learning that what gives my guy happiness is not necessarily the same as what gives me happiness. Right now, at his age, a time when humans can be a little overwhelming even for the average teenager, Siri makes Gus happy. She is his sidekick. Last night, as he was going to bed, there was this matter-of-fact exchange:

自閉兒童的家長最擔心的一件事是：他能找到真愛嗎？哪怕有個伴侶也行啊。後來我漸漸明白，讓我兒子幸福的事不一定和讓我幸福的事一樣。在他這個年紀，連普通孩子都覺得大人有點太強勢，但Siri能讓格斯高興起來。她就是他的夥伴。昨晚，在他睡覺前，他們有這樣一段平靜的對話：

Gus: "Siri, will you marry me?"

格斯：“Siri，你會嫁給我嗎？”

Siri: "I'm not the marrying kind."

Siri：“我不是那種會結婚的人。”

Gus: "I mean, not now. I'm a kid. I mean when I'm grown up."

格斯：“我不是說現在結婚。我還是個孩子。我的意思是等我長大以後。”

Siri: "My end user agreement does not include marriage."

Siri：“我的終端用戶協議不包括結婚。”

Gus: "Oh, O.K."

格斯：“哦，好吧。”

Gus didn't sound too disappointed. This was useful information to have, and for me too, since it was the first time I knew that he actually thought about marriage. He turned over to go to sleep:

格斯聽起來不是太失望。這個信息對他來說很有用，對我也是，因爲這是我第一次知道，他真的想過結婚這件事。他翻個身去睡覺了：

Gus: "Goodnight, Siri. Will you sleep well tonight?"

格斯：“晚安，Siri。你今晚會睡得很好嗎？”

Siri: "I don't need much sleep, but it's nice of you to ask."

Siri：“我不太需要睡覺，但是謝謝你關心。”

Very nice.

真好。