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Robot Pain and Empathy

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Encyclopedia of Robotics

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Synonyms

Artificial pain; Artificial sympathy; Robot empathy

Definitions

Robot pain refers to a pain sensation designed for robots to acquire the capacity for empathy for others (humans and other robots). The following steps are considered as developmental processes from pain to empathy: embedding a pain nervous system into robots for them to feel pain, developing a mirror neuron system (MNS) for robots to feel pain in others, and developing empathetic capabilities such as emotional contagion, emotional empathy, cognitive empathy, and sympathy/compassion.

Overview

Cognitive developmental robotics aims to understand humans’ cognitive developmental processes based on constructive approaches utilizing computer simulations and real robot experiments (Asada et al., 2009). During the developmental process of cognitive functions, emotional capabilities such as emotion, sympathy, and empathy develop and play important roles in social interactions. The sensation of pain includes two distinct...

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Acknowledgments

This chapter was partially supported by the JST Strategic Basic Research Programs (RIS-TEX) and the Research Area Human-Information Technology Ecosystem, entitled “Rule of Law in the Age of AI: Distributive Principles of Legal Liability for Multi-Species Societies” (January 2020 to March 2023), and also by the JST CREST Grant Number JPMJCR17A4, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Professional University of Technology in Osaka, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan

    Minoru Asada

  2. Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

    Minoru Asada

Authors
  1. Minoru Asada
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Correspondence to Minoru Asada .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Marcelo H. Ang

  2. Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Oussama Khatib

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Bruno Siciliano

Section Editor information

  1. Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Minoru Asada

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Asada, M. (2021). Robot Pain and Empathy. In: Ang, M.H., Khatib, O., Siciliano, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Robotics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41610-1_208-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41610-1_208-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41610-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41610-1

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