Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Lecture 1: Introduction and multidisciplinary approach of Robot Interaction
Robots come in many ways and are used in many areas
● E.g., Industry, Housekeeping, Health care, Companionship, Service, Education
The Robot Interaction course focusses on Humanoid Social Robots
● Social robots can also take many forms
○ Animals, toys, mechanics, different functionalities
● Embodied, in physical space (vs. bots)
● Humanoid, Android, Human-like, Social entity
● Interaction and communication with humans
○ People talk
○ Verbal and non-verbal communication, multimodal modeling
Robot Design vs. User Perception
● Robot → design principles:
○ Shape, form
○ Color
○ Functionality
○ Affordances
● User → Processing robot:
○ Attention
○ Perception
○ Feeling
○ User psychology
● Individual differences for users
○ Gender
○ Age
○ Personality traits
Robot Interaction Research
● How are robots perceived?
● How and Why can robots be effective, for Whom, under Which circumstances?
● No uniform robot effects
○ No “one-for-all” design
○ No “best” robot
○ → the same robot, different effects!
● Understanding individual differences, conditions, and processed that explain different effects
○ → Moderating and mediating variables
1
,Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Analytical structure
Development, application, and use of robots
● Ambiguities in design
○ The “thing” vs. the “perception”, affordances
● Ambiguities in language & understanding
○ Referencing
● Complexities in modeling
○ Dynamic, multimodal
● Ethical aspects
○ Privacy
Why theories?
● Theories link concepts in order to explain
something
● Theories describe, explain, and predict
● Theories reduce the complexity of reality
● Theories can be modeled
Broader context and overview of Robot Interaction
● Application areas
○ Health care
■ Elderly, autism
○ Education
■ STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and math), 2nd Language
○ Service profession
■ Shopping mall, reception
2
,Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Interactions with robots
● Little emphasis is placed on the psychological construction of robots and testing them with
humans.
● Understanding human behavior
● Building theoretical models
● Conducting social science research Constructing valid and reliable measures
● Development of robots in socially acceptable ways
● Meet people’s expectations of its behavior
The Uncanny Vally
● The more lifelike a creation, the more
likely it crosses the line from cute to
creepy.
● Questions are being raised as to its validity
(whether this is really true).
● Possible explanations:
○ Evolution
○ Expectation violation
The Second Self
● Robots Change, Challenge, and Reveal Us
○ Turkle: Computer not as a "tool," but as part of our social and psychological lives
● The insights people gain about themselves through the use of computers
○ Then, mobile phones, now social robots
● Robots make us more self-reflective
● Questions what it is to be human
○ What is humanness? How do we differ from robots?
The Media Equation
● The Media Equation ≈ CASA
○ Computers Are Social Actors
○ People treat computers ... as if they were human even though they know this is not the
case.
○ Do we ‘mindlessly’ apply social rules to robots?
● Tested in many studies
○ People use stereotypical social categories (gender, ethnicity, in-/out-group status);
○ Apply overlearned behaviors (politeness; reciprocal self-disclosure);
○ Apply social rules ‘mindlessly’ (racial prejudice)
● Also counter-evidence (not mindless)
3
, Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Anthropomorphism
● Anthropomorphism ≠ Humanlike design
● User’s experience
● Stimulate such user experience by ‘anthropo-morphism’ in design = adding humanlike features
○ E.g., having the animal or object behave as if it is human, Disney films
● Do we perceive the world through a human filter?
○ Less predictable agents are anthropomorphized to a greater extent
○ Inherent need to be social; less social ties, more anthropomorphism
Mind Perception
● Do we perceive mind in robots?
○ Can robots think?
○ Turing’s (1950) test
○ Theory of Mind
■ Perspective-taking
■ Understanding
○ Do we think that robots can think?
○ Perceived mind, two dimensions
■ Capacity for agency (self-control, morality, emotion recognition,...)
■ Capacity for experience (hunger, pain, desire, personality, joy,...)
Relating to robots
● Studies observed emotional attachment to robots
○ e.g., measured by positive interactions,
○ Affective responses,
○ Hugging, smiling, caressing, sharing cookies,
○ Feels like a friend
○ Feel empathy when robot is harmed
● How to connect to a mechanical friend? Why?
Physical Embodiment
● Robots versus other technologies
○ We relate differently to physically embodied robots
than to virtual robot characters (presented as avatars on
a screen), and to computers.
○ More affective responsiveness toward robots
○ Higher empathy when in pain
○ Closer therapeutic alliances
○ More compliance with instructions
○ More physiological reactions
4
Lecture 1: Introduction and multidisciplinary approach of Robot Interaction
Robots come in many ways and are used in many areas
● E.g., Industry, Housekeeping, Health care, Companionship, Service, Education
The Robot Interaction course focusses on Humanoid Social Robots
● Social robots can also take many forms
○ Animals, toys, mechanics, different functionalities
● Embodied, in physical space (vs. bots)
● Humanoid, Android, Human-like, Social entity
● Interaction and communication with humans
○ People talk
○ Verbal and non-verbal communication, multimodal modeling
Robot Design vs. User Perception
● Robot → design principles:
○ Shape, form
○ Color
○ Functionality
○ Affordances
● User → Processing robot:
○ Attention
○ Perception
○ Feeling
○ User psychology
● Individual differences for users
○ Gender
○ Age
○ Personality traits
Robot Interaction Research
● How are robots perceived?
● How and Why can robots be effective, for Whom, under Which circumstances?
● No uniform robot effects
○ No “one-for-all” design
○ No “best” robot
○ → the same robot, different effects!
● Understanding individual differences, conditions, and processed that explain different effects
○ → Moderating and mediating variables
1
,Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Analytical structure
Development, application, and use of robots
● Ambiguities in design
○ The “thing” vs. the “perception”, affordances
● Ambiguities in language & understanding
○ Referencing
● Complexities in modeling
○ Dynamic, multimodal
● Ethical aspects
○ Privacy
Why theories?
● Theories link concepts in order to explain
something
● Theories describe, explain, and predict
● Theories reduce the complexity of reality
● Theories can be modeled
Broader context and overview of Robot Interaction
● Application areas
○ Health care
■ Elderly, autism
○ Education
■ STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and math), 2nd Language
○ Service profession
■ Shopping mall, reception
2
,Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Interactions with robots
● Little emphasis is placed on the psychological construction of robots and testing them with
humans.
● Understanding human behavior
● Building theoretical models
● Conducting social science research Constructing valid and reliable measures
● Development of robots in socially acceptable ways
● Meet people’s expectations of its behavior
The Uncanny Vally
● The more lifelike a creation, the more
likely it crosses the line from cute to
creepy.
● Questions are being raised as to its validity
(whether this is really true).
● Possible explanations:
○ Evolution
○ Expectation violation
The Second Self
● Robots Change, Challenge, and Reveal Us
○ Turkle: Computer not as a "tool," but as part of our social and psychological lives
● The insights people gain about themselves through the use of computers
○ Then, mobile phones, now social robots
● Robots make us more self-reflective
● Questions what it is to be human
○ What is humanness? How do we differ from robots?
The Media Equation
● The Media Equation ≈ CASA
○ Computers Are Social Actors
○ People treat computers ... as if they were human even though they know this is not the
case.
○ Do we ‘mindlessly’ apply social rules to robots?
● Tested in many studies
○ People use stereotypical social categories (gender, ethnicity, in-/out-group status);
○ Apply overlearned behaviors (politeness; reciprocal self-disclosure);
○ Apply social rules ‘mindlessly’ (racial prejudice)
● Also counter-evidence (not mindless)
3
, Robot Interaction - Summary Bachelor Artificial Intelligence Year 2
Anthropomorphism
● Anthropomorphism ≠ Humanlike design
● User’s experience
● Stimulate such user experience by ‘anthropo-morphism’ in design = adding humanlike features
○ E.g., having the animal or object behave as if it is human, Disney films
● Do we perceive the world through a human filter?
○ Less predictable agents are anthropomorphized to a greater extent
○ Inherent need to be social; less social ties, more anthropomorphism
Mind Perception
● Do we perceive mind in robots?
○ Can robots think?
○ Turing’s (1950) test
○ Theory of Mind
■ Perspective-taking
■ Understanding
○ Do we think that robots can think?
○ Perceived mind, two dimensions
■ Capacity for agency (self-control, morality, emotion recognition,...)
■ Capacity for experience (hunger, pain, desire, personality, joy,...)
Relating to robots
● Studies observed emotional attachment to robots
○ e.g., measured by positive interactions,
○ Affective responses,
○ Hugging, smiling, caressing, sharing cookies,
○ Feels like a friend
○ Feel empathy when robot is harmed
● How to connect to a mechanical friend? Why?
Physical Embodiment
● Robots versus other technologies
○ We relate differently to physically embodied robots
than to virtual robot characters (presented as avatars on
a screen), and to computers.
○ More affective responsiveness toward robots
○ Higher empathy when in pain
○ Closer therapeutic alliances
○ More compliance with instructions
○ More physiological reactions
4
