Aliveness and the off-switch in human-robot relations

If robots are going to share human homes, workplaces and social spaces in the future, how will they communicate with people, and how might this frame people’s perceptions of them? Should a robot’s communication style reinforce the sense in which they seem to be somewhat alive, trustworthy assistants, co-workers or possibly even friends? Is there value in people recognizing and respecting the agency of robots, while also being reminded that even the most personable social robot is a machine that can be switched off? The questions in this list are too complex to answer fully in this short chapter. Its aim, instead, is to offer a starting point for discussing such questions: to demonstrate how a detailed analysis of people’s communication with and about robots from a number of communication theoretical perspectives is a productive way to think through the deployment of robots into everyday life

Is It Human? The Role of Anthropomorphism as a Driver for the Successful Acceptance of Digital Voice Assistants

The market of digital voice has grown significantly over the recent years. Big players like Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung are focusing on the development and expansion of their assistants. Especially smart speakers are on the rise but also in smartphone integrated voice applications are getting more popular. The main characteristics of this new technology are both elements of human-computer-interaction and especially the attribution of human characteristics. Although there is an increase of the number of current users as well as of consumers intending to use digital voice assistants in the future, drivers and barriers of digital voice assistants have not yet been sufficiently empirically investigated, especially concerning the phenomenon of anthropomorphism. This study points to additional key factors that are important to foster broader acceptance. Our empirical study is based on the UTAUT2 and highlights the importance of anthropomorphism in relation to other determinants known from the literature

"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do!": Switching off a robot

Robots can exhibit life like behavior, but are according to traditional definitions not alive. Current robot users are confronted with an ambiguous entity and it is important to understand the users perception of these robots. This study analyses if a robot's intelligence and its agreeableness influence its perceived animacy. The robot's animacy was measured, amongst other measurements, by the users' hesitation to switch it off. The results show that participants hesitated three times as long to switch off an agreeable and intelligent robot as compared to a non agreeable and unintelligent robot. The robots' intelligence had a significant influence on its perceived animacy. Our results suggest that interactive robots should be intelligent and exhibit an agreeable attitude to maximize its perceived animacy

“Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do!” Switching Off a Robot

Robots can exhibit life like behavior, but are according to traditional definitions not alive. Current robot users are confronted with an ambiguous entity and it is important to understand the users perception of these robots. This study analyses if a robot’s intelligence and its agreeableness influence its perceived animacy. The robot’s animacy was measured, amongst other measurements, by the users ’ hesitation to switch it off. The results show that participants hesitated three times as long to switch off an agreeable and intelligent robot as compared to a non agreeable and unintelligent robot. The robots ’ intelligence had a significant influence on its perceived animacy. Our results suggest that interactive robots should be intelligent and exhibit an agreeable attitude to maximize its perceived animacy