Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum

Laurel D. Riek; Tal Chen Rabinowitch; Bhismadev Chakrabartiz; Peter Robinson

doi:10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423

Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum

Laurel D. Riek, Tal Chen Rabinowitch, Bhismadev Chakrabartiz, Peter Robinson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

A long-standing question within the robotics community is about the degree of human-likeness robots ought to have when interacting with humans. We explore an unexamined aspect of this problem: how people empathize with robots along the anthropomorphic spectrum. We conducted a webbased experiment (n = 120) that measured how people empathized with four different robots shown to be experiencing mistreatment by humans. Our results indicate that people empathize more strongly with more human-looking robots and less with mechanical looking robots. We also found that a person's general ability to empathize has no predictive value for expressed empathy toward robots.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009
Pages	1-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423
State	Published - 2009
Externally published	Yes
Event	2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009 - Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 10 Sep 2009 → 12 Sep 2009

Publication series

Name	Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009

Conference

Conference	2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009
Country/Territory	Netherlands
City	Amsterdam
Period	10/09/09 → 12/09/09

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Artificial Intelligence
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Human-Computer Interaction
Software

Access to Document

10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423

Cite this

Riek, L. D., Rabinowitch, T. C., Chakrabartiz, B., & Robinson, P. (2009). Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum. In Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009 (pp. 1-6). Article 5349423 (Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009). https://doi.org/10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423

Riek, Laurel D. ; Rabinowitch, Tal Chen ; Chakrabartiz, Bhismadev et al. / Empathizing with robots : Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum. Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009. 2009. pp. 1-6 (Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009).

@inproceedings{8b044f42465747fc9d9ec9923e779727,

title = "Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum",

abstract = "A long-standing question within the robotics community is about the degree of human-likeness robots ought to have when interacting with humans. We explore an unexamined aspect of this problem: how people empathize with robots along the anthropomorphic spectrum. We conducted a webbased experiment (n = 120) that measured how people empathized with four different robots shown to be experiencing mistreatment by humans. Our results indicate that people empathize more strongly with more human-looking robots and less with mechanical looking robots. We also found that a person's general ability to empathize has no predictive value for expressed empathy toward robots.",

author = "Riek, {Laurel D.} and Rabinowitch, {Tal Chen} and Bhismadev Chakrabartiz and Peter Robinson",

year = "2009",

doi = "10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781424447992",

series = "Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009",

pages = "1--6",

booktitle = "Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009",

note = "2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009 ; Conference date: 10-09-2009 Through 12-09-2009",

}

Riek, LD, Rabinowitch, TC, Chakrabartiz, B & Robinson, P 2009, Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum. in Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009., 5349423, Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009, pp. 1-6, 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 10/09/09. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423

Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum. / Riek, Laurel D.; Rabinowitch, Tal Chen; Chakrabartiz, Bhismadev et al.
Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009. 2009. p. 1-6 5349423 (Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AB - A long-standing question within the robotics community is about the degree of human-likeness robots ought to have when interacting with humans. We explore an unexamined aspect of this problem: how people empathize with robots along the anthropomorphic spectrum. We conducted a webbased experiment (n = 120) that measured how people empathized with four different robots shown to be experiencing mistreatment by humans. Our results indicate that people empathize more strongly with more human-looking robots and less with mechanical looking robots. We also found that a person's general ability to empathize has no predictive value for expressed empathy toward robots.

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Riek LD, Rabinowitch TC, Chakrabartiz B, Robinson P. Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum. In Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009. 2009. p. 1-6. 5349423. (Proceedings - 2009 3rd International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction and Workshops, ACII 2009). doi: 10.1109/ACII.2009.5349423

Empathizing with robots: Fellow feeling along the anthropomorphic spectrum

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