Humans Will Accept Robots as Helpers, But Not as Robotic Overlords

It's a response that we shouldn't find surprising. It turns out that while senior citizens will accept robots as helpers, they're far less likely to give up control to the machines. To be honest, we can't blame them; who wants to accept robot overlords?

"When interfaces are designed to be almost human-like in their autonomy, seniors may react to them with fear, skepticism and other negative emotions," said S. Shyam Sundar, one of the researchers, in a news release. "But with those considerations in mind, there are actually several areas where older people would accept robot help."

In this latest study, the researchers asked senior citizens what they thought of robots. The participants indicated that they saw robots as useful in three aspects of their lives: physical, informational and interactional. They felt most comfortable with robots as helpers and butlers. In addition, older adults were more likely to accept robots that provided them information and entertainment.

With that said, the volunteers indicated that they were less likely to use robots that were designed to be more autonomous. An autonomous robot, in this case, is one that can make its own decisions and may not need to wait for a senior's commands to engage it in a task.

"It is clear senior citizens want robots to play passive and non-confrontational roles," said Sundar. "Seniors do not mind having robots as companions, but they worry about the potential loss of control over social order to robots."

The findings are published in the journal Interaction Studies.

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