People help robots who help others, not robots who help themselves

Bradley Hayes, Daniel Ullman, Emma Alexander, Caroline Bank, Brian Scassellati

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Robots that engage in social behaviors benefit greatly from possessing tools that allow them to manipulate the course of an interaction. Using a non-anthropomorphic social robot and a simple counting game, we examine the effects that empathy-generating robot dialogue has on participant performance across three conditions. In the self-directed condition, the robot petitions the participant to reduce his or her performance so that the robot can avoid punishment. In the externally-directed condition, the robot petitions on behalf of its programmer so that its programmer can avoid punishment. The control condition does not involve any petitions for empathy. We find that externally-directed petitions from the robot show a higher likelihood of motivating the participant to sacrifice his or her own performance to help, at the expense of incurring negative social effects. We also find that experiencing these emotional dialogue events can have complex and difficult to predict effects, driving some participants to antipathy, leaving some unaffected, and manipulating others into feeling empathy towards the robot.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIEEE RO-MAN 2014 - 23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Subtitle of host publicationHuman-Robot Co-Existence: Adaptive Interfaces and Systems for Daily Life, Therapy, Assistance and Socially Engaging Interactions
EditorsRui Loureiro, Aris Alissandrakis, Adriana Tapus, Selma Sabanovic, Fumihide Tanaka, Yukie Nagai
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages255-260
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781479967636
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 15 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, IEEE RO-MAN 2014 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Duration: Aug 25 2014Aug 29 2014

Publication series

NameIEEE RO-MAN 2014 - 23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication: Human-Robot Co-Existence: Adaptive Interfaces and Systems for Daily Life, Therapy, Assistance and Socially Engaging Interactions

Conference

Conference23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, IEEE RO-MAN 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityEdinburgh
Period8/25/148/29/14

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Software
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

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