Do you remember when robots will take over human beings in the workplace? It seems like these machines have been getting bad publicity of late. Two new studies found that robots are crummy at so many jobs, and they tell lousy jokes to boot.
The research was initially intended to check if a female robot could be less skillful at a few jobs than a male robot and vice versa. The studies' titles even covered the words "gender," "stereotypes," and "preference." Still, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology found no tremendous sexism towards the machines.
Scientists found a slight and insignificant difference in the results of the research. Still, they found the results "surprising."
Ayanna Howard, the study author in both studies, said what is going right and wrong while integrating robots in the workplace has to do with how the humans feel around robots.
"I hate robots!"
Howard, a professor in and the chair of Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing, said surveillance robots are not socially engaging.
"When we see them, we still may act very conscientious of our behavior like we would see a police officer," Howard said. However, there are emotionally engaging robots designed to tap into human feelings and work with human behavior. "If you look at these examples, they lead us to treat these robots as if they were fellow intelligent beings," Howard added.
Researchers say robots not having feelings is a "good thing." As the bots lacked in gender bias, the team said study participants based their judgments on robot competence.
That predisposition was strong that Howard doubted if results may have overridden any possible gender biases against robots. After all, social science studies have shown that gender biases are still prevalent in the human workforce.
Where's the scalpel?
The study results show that robots could only perform a handful of simple jobs compared to human beings. "The results baffled us because the things that people thought robots were less able to do were things that they do well," Howard said.
Respondents, according to researchers, believe robots are not capable of doing surgical operations. Howard said participants believe bots are not competent enough in surgical suites despite having Da Vinci robots that are pervasive in surgical suites.
However, the study pointed out that robots could make exceptional package deliverers and receptionists, table servers, and tour guides.
"Security guard - people didn't think robots were competent at that, and there are companies that specialize in great robot security," Howard said.
Social is good, but...
Howard said robots can be useful for social interaction. She added there is animatronics that tells excellent jokes in the amusement parks.
However, participants across the two studies said robots would also fail as therapists, nannies, nurses, firefighters, and totally bomb as comedians.
The researchers couldn't say where the competence biases originate. Howard could only speculate that some negative results came from media testimonies of robots doing such things as falling into swimming pools or injuring humans.
