Some people stiffen and freeze when put on the spot, others become more animated. Liars can spin yarns packed with colour and detail, and truth-tellers can seem vague and evasive.
Humans have been trying to overcome this problem for millennia. The search for a perfect lie detector has involved torture, trials by ordeal and, in ancient India, an encounter with a donkey in a dark room. Three thousand years ago in China, the accused were forced to chew and spit out rice; the grains were thought to stick in the dry, nervous mouths of the guilty.
In , the English writer Daniel Defoe suggested taking the pulse of suspected pickpockets. But none of these methods has yielded a reliable way to separate fiction from fact.
That could soon change. In the past couple of decades, the rise of cheap computing power, brain-scanning technologies and artificial intelligence has given birth to what many claim is a powerful new generation of lie-detection tools. Startups, racing to commercialise these developments, want us to believe that a virtually infallible lie detector is just around the corner. Their inventions are being snapped up by police forces, state agencies and nations desperate to secure themselves against foreign threats.
They are also being used by employers, insurance companies and welfare officers. In the UK, Northumbria police are carrying out a pilot scheme that uses EyeDetect to measure the rehabilitation of sex offenders. Soon, large-scale lie-detection programmes could be coming to the borders of the US and the European Union, where they would flag potentially deceptive travellers for further questioning.
But as tools such as EyeDetect infiltrate more and more areas of public and private life, there are urgent questions to be answered about their scientific validity and ethical use. In our age of high surveillance and anxieties about all-powerful AIs, the idea that a machine could read our most personal thoughts feels more plausible than ever to us as individuals, and to the governments and corporations funding the new wave of lie-detection research.
And what do we do with these technologies if they do succeed? A machine that reliably sorts truth from falsehood could have profound implications for human conduct. The creators of these tools argue that by weeding out deception they can create a fairer, safer world. But the ways lie detectors have been used in the past suggests such claims may be far too optimistic.
F or most of us, most of the time, lying is more taxing and more stressful than honesty. It demands that we bear what psychologists call a cognitive load. Carrying that burden, most lie-detection theories assume, leaves evidence in our bodies and actions.
Lie-detection technologies tend to examine five different types of evidence. The first two are verbal: the things we say and the way we say them. Voice-stress analysis, which aims to detect deception based on changes in tone of voice, was used during the interrogation of George Zimmerman, who shot the teenager Trayvon Martin in , and by UK councils between and in a pilot scheme that tried to catch benefit cheats over the phone.
Only five of the 23 local authorities where voice analysis was trialled judged it a success, but in , it was still in use in 20 councils , according to freedom of information requests by the campaign group False Economy. The third source of evidence — body language — can also reveal hidden feelings.
The fourth type of evidence is physiological. The polygraph measures blood pressure, breathing rate and sweat. Penile plethysmography tests arousal levels in sex offenders by measuring the engorgement of the penis using a special cuff.
When you're taking a polygraph test, the machine first registers the baseline of your vital signs. Examiners then trick you into lying by asking you a series of "control" questions that are only distantly related to the issue they're investigating, such as "Did you ever lie to get out of trouble?
As soon as the examinee tells such a white lie, it puts a blip on the polygraph machine that serves as a signature of that examinee's lies. Mixed in with the control questions are relevant questions. In a drug case, for example, a polygrapher will ask, "Did you ever use an illegal drug? If the former reactions are greater, the examinee passes; if the latter are greater, he fails.
In essence, an examinee's lie only counts as a lie if it registers as more of a lie than his or her control lie. By Kasia Delgado. January 21, pm Updated July 10, pm.
Sign up now to get daily updates and analysis on COP26, and the race to stop climate disaster Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem. More from News. And if I ever get one, I'll see whether I can fool the detector!
Oct 1, We're glad you learned some new things with us, cynyee! Thanks for leaving us a comment! Jan 29, Colleen Jan 26, I love this single post because once, my friends father was a police officer and we got to try this method out! It's so much fun. Jan 26, Collen Jan 28, I think I'll teach this to my neice! How does a lie detector work and get the wrong lies? Wonderopolis Mar 27, Mar 18, I loved that video because even I know you could fool a lie detector I wouldn't because I was taught to not lie and be honest!
My mom told me I was a very honest young man thank you for the video I will post on tomorrow's wonder. Wonderopolis Mar 18, Guner Mar 8, I've fooled one before it was easy plus I didn't even get a good night sleep. Wonderopolis Mar 9, Ally Jan 23, Wow this was so interesting : I love Wonderopolis!!!!!!
Wonderopolis Jan 23, MoonPie-4 Nov 15, I don't know what you are talking about. Wonderopolis Nov 15, How was your school project, MoonPie4? What did you have to do? Jun 28, Hi, lil! We hope you enjoyed this Wonder! MoonPie-4 Nov 14, It was for my school work. I didn't have a choice, thank you very much. Wonderopolis Nov 14, WOW, that sounds like a very cool project, MoonPie-4!
We Wonder how it went!? MoonPie-4 Nov 3, I can fool a lie detector!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderopolis Nov 3, Interesting but confusing at the same time, so next time when I see a lie detcter I will test it even though I only saw of the documentary.
Wonderopolis Sep 4, I think that telling the truth is the best way to go because although you may have to face consequences you will have to face more if you lie and your parents find out which usually they do!
Just tell the truth in the first place so then you won't be guilty or worse proven guilty!! Wonderopolis Aug 13, Carley Gradwell Aug 12, It isn't your fault but I really wish I could watch these amazing videos to go with the wonder Oh, I was at my house on my laptop and it wasn't letting me watch it.
I went on here today and it wouldn't let me watch the video. Wonderopolis Aug 12, Carlos a. Aug 11, A lie detector, oh come on, it's the classics to beat a lie detector. You said that it measures certain bodily functions, including skin conductivity, heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Right, because if you stay calm than you did it.
0コメント