3 ms·

I don't know if I'd call it a "deficiency" - if we interpret "disfluency" in a literal sense as "not flowing" without negative connotation, then the interruptio

by saulrh 8y ago

I don't know if I'd call it a "deficiency" - if we interpret "disfluency" in a literal sense as "not flowing" without negative connotation, then the interruptions (hmm, uh, okay) are actually communicating useful information to the other party. I might even say that omitting those interruptions (and replacing them with, say, dead silence) might be poor communication.

gowld 8y ago
The "um" isn't a deficiency, but the slow response is. If the response is artificially delayed to give the appearance of slow thinking, and an "um" added to fill the artificially long silence, that's an artificial deficiency.
- cryptoz 8y ago
  It's not a deficiency if understanding is increased. If that fake pause increases the listener's understanding of the sentence (it might), then the 'slow response' is not a deficiency but an improvement. Edit: should the robot talk at 2x normal speaking speed in order to more quickly convey the necessary information? Slowing the speech down artificially so a human could easily understand it sounds like a deficiency to me. (By your definition).
- adrianmonk 8y ago
  I interpreted it differently. It isn't to give the appearance of slow thinking. It is to wait for the other person to be ready to accept the answer. When talking to real humans, I've encountered people who don't do this, and I find it makes communication difficult and frustrating. I'm not 100% sure why I need this pause, but I know I need it. Maybe I'm considering whether my question made sense or needs corrections/additions, so that I can't focus on the answer yet. Or maybe it takes time to switch the brain from "speaking mode" to "listening mode". At any rate, when people do this, I have to ask them to repeat the first few words they said because I didn't catch them. And the reason I didn't catch them wasn't mumbling or background noise or anything. Well-formed sounds made it to my ear just fine, but my brain wasn't ready to accept them for a fraction of a second.

by saulrh 8y ago

gowld 8y ago

The "um" isn't a deficiency, but the slow response is. If the response is artificially delayed to give the appearance of slow thinking, and an "um" added to fill the artificially long silence, that's an artificial deficiency.

cryptoz 8y ago
It's not a deficiency if understanding is increased. If that fake pause increases the listener's understanding of the sentence (it might), then the 'slow response' is not a deficiency but an improvement. Edit: should the robot talk at 2x normal speaking speed in order to more quickly convey the necessary information? Slowing the speech down artificially so a human could easily understand it sounds like a deficiency to me. (By your definition).
adrianmonk 8y ago
I interpreted it differently. It isn't to give the appearance of slow thinking. It is to wait for the other person to be ready to accept the answer. When talking to real humans, I've encountered people who don't do this, and I find it makes communication difficult and frustrating. I'm not 100% sure why I need this pause, but I know I need it. Maybe I'm considering whether my question made sense or needs corrections/additions, so that I can't focus on the answer yet. Or maybe it takes time to switch the brain from "speaking mode" to "listening mode". At any rate, when people do this, I have to ask them to repeat the first few words they said because I didn't catch them. And the reason I didn't catch them wasn't mumbling or background noise or anything. Well-formed sounds made it to my ear just fine, but my brain wasn't ready to accept them for a fraction of a second.