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S. Zafari, S. Köszegi:
"Attitudes towards autonomous robots";
Poster: International Paris Conference 2019, Paris; 2019-12-27 - 2019-12-28; in: "International Paris Conference 2019", N. Boubekri, S. Kang, P. Geczy, M. Zaei, H. Akyürek, A. Benhamena, B. Adiba (ed.); Lulu, Paris (2019), ISBN: 9781794768772; 38 - 39.

Recent advancements in human-robot interaction have made it possible for autonomous robots to support work in close contact with humans. However, we are concerned that people might have difficulty in accepting such a cooperative relationship with these robots. If robots are truly expected to shift from traditional roles as tools to roles as teammates, then it is necessary to further explore how a strengthening of machine agency, for example through increasing levels of autonomy, affect attitudes towards robot. Current literature offers contradictory findings about the effects of attributed agency to robots (Forlizzi, & DiSalvo, 2006; Kramer, 2008). While several studies reported negative outcomes regarding the increased agency (Stafford et al. 2014; Heerink et al. 2008), others found positive attitudes toward high agency (Wiese et al. 2012; Schermerhorn, & Scheutz, 2009). Thus, the aim of this study is to explore how and when the negative attitudes towards the agency of robots occur. We conducted a vignette experiment to examine the role of perceived control in our model. The expected result would show whether attributed high level of agency to the robots leads to negative attitudes towards them when individuals perceive losing control over the task performance.

autonomous robot, negative attitudes, agency