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Autonomous social robots are real in the mind's eye of many

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 April 2023

Nathan Caruana
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia nathan.caruana@mq.edu.au https://nathancaruana.weebly.com/
Emily S. Cross
Affiliation:
School of Psychological Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia nathan.caruana@mq.edu.au https://nathancaruana.weebly.com/ Centre for Elite Performance, Expertise and Training, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia emily.cross@mq.edu.au https://www.soba-lab.com/ Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Westmead, NSW, Australia

Abstract

Clark and Fischer's dismissal of extant human–robot interaction research approaches limits opportunities to understand major variables shaping people's engagement with social robots. Instead, this endeavour categorically requires multidisciplinary approaches. We refute the assumption that people cannot (correctly or incorrectly) represent robots as autonomous social agents. This contradicts available empirical evidence, and will become increasingly tenuous as robot automation improves.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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