After the hitchhiking robot named hitchBOT met its demise after someone smashed the machine when it arrived in Philadelphia, it's easy to lose faith in humanity when it comes to us peacefully living alongside this technology.
Now, a recent experiment conducted in Japan showed that children too can become bullies when coming in contact with a robot.
Researchers from the ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories, Osaka University, Ryukoku University and Tokai University wanted to see how unsupervised children would react when encountering a so-called social robot.
The researchers programmed the child-sized robot Robovie II to politely ask the humans it encountered to move aside and open the way so it could pass, letting it wander around a shopping mall in Osaka, Japan.
Of course, the robot would catch the attention of people passing by, especially children.
Robovie II was also programmed during simulations to predict children's behavior and assess the probability of abuse it could receive. The robot would stay close when a child with an adult walked close to it. When a single child approached it, the probability of abuse would increase, but in most cases, the child would move aside.
However, it was programmed to have the probability for abuse rise the highest when it crossed paths with a group of children, and it would then escape from the pack of kids by changing direction.
The researchers found that, in some cases, when Robovie II came in contact with a group of kids, they would ignore the robot's polite request, block its path and occasionally become violent toward it by kicking and hitting it.
The researchers published a follow-up study that explored why children abuse robots, linking curiosity and the lack of empathy as the reasons.
Robovie II is just one example of the social robots that may continue to be integrated into our everyday lives. These robots could be used as hotel receptionists or a friend for the home. Robovie II has also been used to help the elderly complete everyday tasks such as shopping.
Via: Engadget
Photo: teakwood | Flickr
