愛知縣立大學で2007年に出題された長文問題3題のうち、3題めの問題文です。入學試驗では他にリスニング問題が課されたやうです。
Better Than People: Japan’s Humanoid Robots
Her name is MARIE, and her impressive skills come in handy in a nursing home. MARIE can move under her own power. She can distinguish among similar-looking objects, such as different bottles of medicine. MARIE can interpret a range of facial expressions and gestures, and respond in ways that suggest compassion. Although her language skills are not perfect, she can recognize and respond to speech. Above all, she is inexpensive. Unfortunately for MARIE, however, she has one trait that makes it hard for Japanese patients to accept her: she is a flesh-and-blood human being – a non-Japanese nurse. If only she were a robot instead.
Robots, as many Japanese will tell you, are wonderful creatures. They are getting more skillful all the time, and soon will be able to do cheaply and easily many tasks that human workers do now. They will care for the sick, pick up the garbage, guard homes and offices, and give directions on the street.
This is good news in Japan, where the population has begun shrinking. With few young workers to support an aging population, somebody – or something – needs to fill the gap, especially since many of Japan’s young people will be needed in science, business and other creative and knowledge-intensive jobs. Making humanoid robots is clearly a simple and practical solution.
Japan certainly has the technology. It is already the world leader in making industrial robots, which look nothing like pets or people but increasingly do much of the work in its factories. What’s more, Japan is far ahead of other countries in developing robots with more human features, ones that can interact more easily with people.
The country showed off its newest robots at the Expo in 2005 in Aichi Prefecture. More than 22 million visitors came, 95% of them Japanese. The robots stole the show: from the nanny robot that babysits to a Toyota-made musician that plays a trumpet. As they gain skills and confidence, robots such as Sony’s QRIO and Honda’s ASIMO are attracting attention in the real world. They have attended factory openings and greeted foreign leaders. ASIMO can even take the stage to accept awards.
Japan will need workers, and it is learning how to make robots that can do many of their jobs. But the country’s keen interest in robots may also reflect something else: it seems that many Japanese really like dealing with robots. Few Japanese have the fear of robots that troubles Westerners in science-fiction stories and Hollywood films.
In Western popular culture, robots are often a threat. By contrast, most Japanese view robots as friendly and helpful. Robots like people, and they can do good. The prevailing view in Japan is that the country is lucky to be free of robophobia*. Without the complexes that bother many Westerners, the theory goes, Japan is able to make use of a great new tool at the very moment when its abilities can meet the country’s needs. "Of all the nations involved in such research,” The Japan Times wrote in a 2004 editorial, “Japan is the most inclined to approach it in a spirit of fun.”
This, however, may be only part of the story. Although they are at ease with robots, many Japanese are less comfortable around other people. Having always to watch what you say and do around others is difficult. Many Japanese seem to like robot versions of living creatures mainly because they are different from the real thing.
To understand how Japanese might find robots less intimidating than people, Osaka University’s Karl MacDorman has been investigating eye movements using headsets that monitor where his test subjects are looking. One popular myth about Japanese, that they rarely make eye contact, is not really true. When answering questions asked by another Japanese, MacDorman’s subjects made eye contact around 30% of the time. But they behaved differently when talking to a humanoid robot whose face has been modeled on that of a famous newsreader, with complex controls that imitate her facial movements. When answering the robot’s questions, MacDorman’s Japanese subjects looked it in the eye more than they did when answering a real person. MacDorman believes that the discomfort many Japanese feel when dealing with others explains his results, and that people are much more comfortable when talking to a humanoid robot.
Eventually, interactive robots are going to become more common, not just in Japan but in other rich countries as well. As children and the elderly begin spending time with them, they are likely to develop emotional ties to such lifelike machines. That is human nature.
*phobia = a strong unreasonable fear of a particular thing
[約766語]
