Sad Robots

Transcription

Do you think you could be friends with a robot? Would you maybe even die for one? Anthony here, for D News. And we love to anthropomorphic stuff. That's where we assign human qualities to animals or objects. You know like, that electrical socket looks hungry, or that lamp is sad. Probably because that electrical socket is eating its tail. Researchers think it helps us feel connected to things, gives us a feeling of control. We might not understand why our car is broken down, but it makes us feel less overwhelmed to say, oh, it's just mad at me. This becomes particularly interesting with something like a robot, which is built to actually behave like it does have a mind of its own. Recently a lot of studies and pilot programs have shown that the elderly and disabled, especially people with dementia can benefit from the social interaction that comes with having a simple robot in the house. It can keep them more engaged and make them feel less isolated. But there's a downside to that sort of anthropomorphizing. A recent university of Washington study suggests that forming emotional bond to a robot might affect a soldiers outcome in the field. See, robots are used for a lot of reasons in battle. Everything from weapon diffusion to search and rescue, even combat. There a tool design to keep humans out of harm's way. But after a while, soldiers begin to look at them as friends. And the concern is that might compromise their decision making. 23 soldiers that work regularly with robots were interviewed by the researchers. And they all said that they named their robots, they gave their robots a gender, they admitted to having feelings of sadness or anger when the robot got damaged. They would say things like, oh poor little guy. And in some cases, the soldiers admitted to a feeling of loss when the robot was destroyed and even had mock funerals for them. They're considered team members. But while they admitted to thinking of their robots as little buddies, every soldier interviewed said that they did not believe that that outlook compromised their decision making in the field at all. Which is probably true. But it would require much more long term observation of their behavior in the field to actually prove it. Researchers are more concerned about what happens when the current simple Rover Wally looking robots are replaced by humanoid or animal like ones like Boston Dynamics big dog. The more a robot seems like a living thing, the more we get attached to it. And the more we begin to give it credit for more intelligence or ability than it actually has. And that doesn't just mean physical appearance, that means movement or other behavior as well. So how lifelike would a robot have to be before a soldier really does look at it like a pet? Or even like another soldier? And could it lead them to make emotionally inappropriate decisions to keep that robot out of harm's way? I worry about my neighbors in animal crossing like they are real people. So I can absolutely see myself getting way to attached to a robot. What about you? Do you think that we will eventually see robots as friends? Or will we always be able to think of them as tools? Let us know down below and subscribe for more D News.