機器人和真人 我們更願意相信誰(上)

Kelly Fisher started using a robo-advisor ayear and a half ago because she thought it would be more convenient and easierthan investing through a human advisor. What she didn’t anticipate, though, wasjust how much more truthful she would be with an automaton rather than aliving, breathing person sitting across the desk.

凱利·費舍爾(Kelly Fisher)一年半以前開始使用機器人顧問，因爲她認爲這種方式比通過人類顧問進行投資更方便、更容易。但出乎她意料之外的是，她對這種機器人的信任度遠超坐在桌子對面那些活生生的同類。

When someone starts asking me about my networth, I get uncomfortable. With a robo-advisor there’s nojudgement.

這位家住舊金山的零售業高管通過機器人顧問創建了一個8,000美元的投資賬戶。這其實就是一些網站，它們會詢問一系列問題，然後提供與投資者的風險承受能力和生活方式相匹配的基金。費舍爾之所以使用這些網站，並不是因爲她有什麼見不得人的地方。但她表示，對他人進行評判是人性使然，而向一個人類財務專家敞開心扉會讓她感覺不舒服。而面對機器人顧問時，費舍爾會更加誠實地透露自己的財務狀況。

The San Francisco-based retail executivehas about $8,000 invested in accounts with robo-advisors. These are sites thatask a series of questions and then they match a fund with that investor’s risktolerance and lifestyle. Fisher doesn’t have anything to hide by using thesewebsites, but she says it’s human nature to judge, and that’s made ituncomfortable for her to open up to a human financial expert. With arobo-advisor, Fisher can be more honest about where she stands financially.

當有人開始向我詢問淨資產時，我就會感覺不舒服。但機器人顧問就不會對此作出任何評判。

“When someone starts asking me about my net worth, that’s when I getuncomfortable,” Fisher said. “With a robo-advisor there’s definitely nojudgment. There’s no stigma over having… debt or deciding that you want tospend money on a vacation or about coming into a windfall.”

“當有人開始向我詢問淨資產時，我就會感覺不舒服。”費舍爾說，“機器人顧問肯定不會對此作出任何評判。無論是揹負債務，還是想要花錢度假，抑或希望大發橫財，我在它們面前都不會感覺恥辱。”

Fisher’s comfort with a computer isn’tunusual – there’s a growing body of research showing that people trust robotsand automated online forms more than humans. That’s one big reason, beyondlower costs, why robo-advice – which is expected to have a staggering $2.2trillion in assets under management by 2020, up from $50bn today –may becomethe preferred way for individuals to invest.

費舍爾在電腦面前的這種放鬆狀態並非個例——有越來越多的研究表明，與人類相比，我們更加信任機器人和自動化的在線表格。除了成本外，這正是機器人顧問有可能成爲個人首選投資方式的重要原因——到2020年，這類服務管理的資產有望達到2.2萬億美元，遠高於目前的500億美元。

Gale Lucas, director of research at Dallas,Texas-based Organizational Wellness and Learning Systems, has been studyingrobot-human trust for years. She’s found that people really are more truthfulwhen they disclose information to a computer. That goes for both generalquestions as well as more intimate details.

得州達拉斯的蓋爾·盧卡斯(Gale Lucas)多年以來一直在研究人類對機器人的信任感。作爲Organizational Wellness and Learning Systems的研究總監，她發現人們在向電腦披露信息時的確展現出更強的信任感。這不僅涉及普通問題，也包括更加隱私的信息。

The effect on higher rates of “honestresponding…are especially strong when the information is illegal, unethical,or culturally stigmatised,”she wrote in a 2014 paper.

她在2014年的一篇論文中寫道，“在涉及違法、不道德或有違文化傳統的信息時，這種誠實回答的現象尤其明顯。”

People are more open with automated toolsbecause they believe computers don’t judge and thatthey’re more ethical.

人們更容易對自動化工具吐露心聲，是因爲他們認爲電腦不會對自己作出評判，並且認爲電腦比人類更有道德。

Finances would fall into that lattercategory, Lucas explained. Debt, for instance, has a negative connotationattached to it. People feel uncomfortable discussing it and may even hide howmuch they really owe from a human financial advisor.

盧卡斯解釋道，財務問題屬於後一類。例如，人們會對負債持有負面觀點。人們討論這類問題時感覺不舒服，甚至有可能向人類財務顧問隱瞞自己的負債金額。

“They’re very embarrassed and don’t want to admit how much creditcard debt they have,” Lucas said. “It’s anxiety producing, so to have someoneyou can talk to where it’s safe to say that you’re worried that you’ll neverget out from all of that debt is important.”

“他們感覺非常尷尬，不想承認自己的信用卡有多少負債。”盧卡斯說，“這會產生焦慮，所以必須要找到一個讓你願意向其吐露心聲的人。你願意告訴這個人，你很擔心自己可能永遠還不清這些債務。”