Negative attitudes towards robots vary by the occupation of robots

The "negative attitudes towards robots scale" (NARS) has been widely applied in the field of robot-human interaction. However, the various occupations and roles of robots have not been discussed when studying negative attitudes towards robots. This study explores whether the occupation of robots could influence people's negative attitudes towards them. For the first time, two types of robots that may be widely used were used in a NARS-related study. We conducted online questionnaire research, covering three separate parts: negative attitudes towards robots, negative attitudes towards service robots, and negative attitudes towards security robots. The results of the online survey collected from 114 participants (54 females and 60 males) highlighted differences among the scores of people's negative attitudes towards service robots and the negative attitudes towards robots or security robots. People showed the lowest negative attitudes towards service robots. There were no significant differences between the negative attitudes towards robots and security robots. This study supports the hypothesis that people show different levels of negative attitudes towards different types of robots in terms of occupational division. These results provide a helpful indicator for the study and design of robots in various occupations in the robotics industry

Implicit Attitudes Towards Robots Predict Explicit Attitudes, Semantic Distance Between Robots and Humans, Anthropomorphism, and Prosocial Behavior: From Attitudes to Human–Robot Interaction

AbstractHow people behave towards others relies, to a large extent, on the prior attitudes that they hold towards them. In Human–Robot Interactions, individual attitudes towards robots have mostly been investigated via explicit reports that can be biased by various conscious processes. In the present study, we introduce an implicit measure of attitudes towards robots. The task utilizes the measure of semantic priming to evaluate whether participants consider humans and robots as similar or different. Our results demonstrate a link between implicit semantic distance between humans and robots and explicit attitudes towards robots, explicit semantic distance between robots and humans, perceived robot anthropomorphism, and pro/anti-social behavior towards a robot in a real life, interactive scenario. Specifically, attenuated semantic distance between humans and robots in the implicit task predicted more positive explicit attitudes towards robots, attenuated explicit semantic distance between humans and robots, attribution of an anthropomorphic characteristic, and consequently a future prosocial behavior towards a robot. Crucially, the implicit measure of attitudes towards robots (implicit semantic distance) was a better predictor of a future behavior towards the robot than explicit measure of attitudes towards robots (self-reported attitudes). Cumulatively, the current results emphasize a new approach to measure implicit attitudes towards robots, and offer a starting point for further investigations of implicit processing of robots

Attitudes of Children with Autism towards Robots: An Exploratory Study

In this exploratory study we assessed how attitudes of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) towards robots together with children's autism-related social impairments are linked to indicators of children's preference of an interaction with a robot over an interaction with a person. We found that children with ASD have overall positive attitudes towards robots and that they often prefer interacting with a robot than with a person. Several of children's attitudes were linked to children's longer gazes towards a robot compared to a person. Autism-related social impairments were linked to more repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and to a shorter gaze duration in the interaction with the robot compared to the person. These preliminary results contribute to better understand factors that might help determine sub-groups of children with ASD for whom robots could be particularly useful.Comment: Presented at Interaction Design and Children (IDC-CRI2018) Workshop (arXiv:submit/2277826

Expectations towards the Morality of Robots: An Overview of Empirical Studies

The main objective of this paper is to discuss people’s expectations towards social robots’ moral attitudes. Conclusions are based on the results of three selected empirical studies which used stories of robots (and humans) acting in hypothetical scenarios to assess the moral acceptance of their attitudes. The analysis indicates both the differences and similarities in expectations towards the robot and human attitudes. Decisions to remove someone’s autonomy are less acceptable from robots than from humans. In certain circumstances, the protection of a human’s life is considered more morally right than the protection of the robot’s being. Robots are also more strongly expected to make utilitarian choices than human agents. However, there are situations in which people make consequentialist moral judgements when evaluating both the human and the robot decisions. Both robots and humans receive a similar overall amount of blame. Furthermore, it can be concluded that robots should protect their existence and obey people, but in some situations, they should be able to hurt a human being. Differences in results can be partially explained by the character of experimental tasks. The present findings might be of considerable use in implementing morality into robots and also in the legal evaluation of their behaviours and attitudes

Social Robots in the Home: What Factors Influence Attitudes Towards their Use in Assistive Care?

Advances in technology and science have led to the application of artificial intelligence in many different areas of life. In particular, they have led to the appearance of robots in the domestic sphere. One type of robot – namely, the social robot – has been endowed with a very human aesthetic and is designed to interact with humans, and it is increasingly being used to perform “human tasks”. Social robots have also been introduced into the social services, providing companionship and assistive services for children, the infirm and the elderly. Such usage has rightly attracted the interest of the social sciences, fuelling the debate about the acceptance of social robots by their end-users. In this paper, regression analysis is applied to data from the Eurobarometer survey to investigate how socio-demographic features and self-confidence on technological development influence European citizens’ attitudes towards robots in the social services. The results show that men, with a high level of education, living in a big city and with experience of robot use have more positive attitudes towards the concept of robots for assistive services. This study emphasizes the need to consider the relation between attitudes towards social robots and their use to avoid the generation of social inequalities

The influence of culture on attitudes towards humanoid and animal‐like robots: an integrative review

Purpose The aim of the present review is to explore the influence of culture on attitudes towards humanoid and animal‐like robots. Design An integrative review of current evidence. Methods Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched from 2000 to 2017. A total of 22 articles met the inclusion criteria and were retrieved and analyzed. Findings Culture influences attitudes and preferences towards robots, but due to the limitations of the reviewed studies, concrete conclusions cannot be made. More consistent evidence was found with regard to the influence of culture on nonverbal behaviors and communication styles, with people being more accepting of a robot that behaved more closely to their own culture. Conclusions The research field of human–robot interaction provides the current evidence on the influence that culture has on attitudes towards humanoid and animal‐like robots, but more research that is guided by strong theoretical frameworks is needed. Clinical Relevance With the increased use of humanoid robots in the healthcare system, it is imperative that nurses and other healthcare professionals explore and understand the different factors that can affect the use of robots with patients

Attitudes towards social robots and how they are affected by direct and indirect contact with a humanoid social robot

The aim of this thesis is to investigate people’s attitudes towards social robots and the factors that affect these attitudes. It uses a wide range of methodologies and aim to offer valuable and comprehensive information about how attitudes towards social robots work and how they can be manipulated. The thesis starts with a literature review which defines concepts, gives a theoretical framework, and explains the evolution of robotics and the field of Human Robot Interaction (HRI). One of the main questions that this thesis aims to answer is what are people’s attitudes towards robots and what factors affect these attitudes. To address this question, a systematic review was carried out by extracting information and analysing the outcomes of studies which examined people’s attitudes, acceptance, anxiety and trust towards social robots. The results of this review indicate that people typically have slightly positive attitudes towards robots, with the type of exposure to robots (e.g., direct contact, indirect contact or no contact) being the main factor affecting this outcome. This thesis then presents a set of empirical studies that investigate whether and how attitudes towards social robots are affected by direct contact and a particular type of indirect contact (namely, extended contact). As explicit and implicit attitudes toward robots may diverge, these experiments measured both implicit and explicit attitudes. The findings suggested that direct contact affects both explicit and implicit attitudes toward social robots, while extended contact only affects implicit attitudes. Some possible explanations include supraliminal priming, a defensive reaction to a possible persuasion, or the idea that implicit attitudes are more unstable than explicit attitudes. This thesis enables new ways of thinking and investigating human-robot relationships. Specifically, it shows that social psychology techniques (usually used to study how people interact with each other) can be applied to study how people interact with social robots. Another implication of these findings is that intergroup contact may actually affect attitudes towards robots, which could be used to create realistic opinions about social robots

General Attitudes Towards Robots Scale (GAToRS): A New Instrument for Social Surveys

Psychometric scales are useful tools in understanding people's attitudes towards different aspects of life. As societies develop and new technologies arise, new validated scales are needed. Robots and artificial intelligences of various kinds are about to occupy just about every niche in human society. Several tools to measure fears and anxieties about robots do exist, but there is a definite lack of tools to measure hopes and expectations for these new technologies. Here, we create and validate a novel multi-dimensional scale which measures people's attitudes towards robots, giving equal weight to positive and negative attitudes. Our scale differentiates (a) comfort and enjoyment around robots, (b) unease and anxiety around robots, (c) rational hopes about robots in general (at societal level) and (d) rational worries about robots in general (at societal level). The scale was developed by extracting items from previous scales, crowdsourcing new items, testing through 3 scale iterations by exploratory factor analysis (Ns 135, 801 and 609) and validated in its final form of the scale by confirmatory factor analysis (N: 477). We hope our scale will be a useful instrument for social scientists who wish to study human-technology relations with a validated scale in efficient and generalizable ways.Peer reviewe

Social Robots: The case of Robot Sophia

In recent years there has been an increasing use of robots in various areas of public and private life. This leads to a set of ethical, social and interpersonal dilemmas. The subject of this paper concerns attitudes towards social robots, starting with the issue of citizenship and moving on to the roles that can be attributed to a robot with Artificial Intelligence. A central example was the social robot Sophia, which has artificial intelligence, and it has been given to it a citizenship. In order to investigate the issue, a literature review of previous research articles related to social robots was initially conducted. An attitudes’ questionnaire was then constructed, to which 137 participants answered. The results showed that, the majority of the sample did not want robots to acquire citizenship and equal rights as humans, nor did they want robots to be used for roles involved in interpersonal relationships, such as raising children, work, friendship, or love. In general, it has been observed that the research sample was not particularly prepared for the existence of social robots in society, while they have been associated with negative or malicious purposes. Gender and age also play an important role regarding attitudes towards social robots. However, this is an open issue that leaves much more unanswered questions and concerns

Robots as restaurant employees-A double-barrelled detective story

The paper evaluates the perceptions of Turkish restaurant managers and customers towards service robots. The sample includes 26 managers and 32 customers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that robots are suitable for dirty, dull, dangerous and repetitive tasks. Customers have mostly positive attitudes towards robots while managers – mostly negative. However, respondents agree that robots improve service quality. A mixed service delivery system based on human-robot collaboration is perceived as the most appropriate. Customers are willing to pay more for the robotic service experience. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed as well