The study of social dynamics between humans and robots is called Human-Robot Interaction, or HRI, which looks at how robots work together with humans and what humans think about their robotic helpers. Researchers find that the robot’s behavior affects how people see it more than the design of how it looks.
Some robots are considered cuter and more social than others.
The study of social dynamics between humans and robots is called Human-Robot Interaction, or HRI, which looks at how robots work together with humans and what humans think about their robotic helpers.
Researchers find that the robot’s behavior effects how people see it more than the design of how it looks.
People attribute human characteristics like emotion and motivation to robots that they interact with in the same way they attribute these characteristics to human coworkers.
Humans are hardwired to judge something as an inanimate object like a rock, or an animated agent capable of empathy like people or even insects. In a recent study, humans were found to assign agency to an inanimate object when it appeared to move on its own.
The way people perceive the attitude of a robot is based on expected human to human interactions combined with certain expectations of how a robot should act.
For example, in another study a person and a robot reached for the same thing at the same time.
If the robot kept moving and didn’t hesitate, people responded that they thought it was rude, but if it slowed down and waited for the person to grab it, then they thought it was being considerate.