Mate or weight? Perceptions of a robot as agent or object in a creative problem solving task

Theresa Law and Daniel Kasenberg and Matthias Scheutz

In this experiment we examine the extent to which this agency ascription can be overcome when required for completion of a task. In particular, we construct an “escape room”-like task, completion of which requires the participant to treat a robot as an object to be physically manipulated rather than an agent with which to be interacted. We compare conditions in which the robot is (minimally) interacting with the participant, inert, or entirely absent (replaced by another inanimate object). While the data are inconclusive, preliminary results are promising for the hypothesis that participants’ perception of the robot’s agency undermines their ability to complete the task..

@inproceedings{law2020mate,
  title={Mate or weight? Perceptions of a robot as agent or object in a creative problem solving task},
  author={Theresa Law and Daniel Kasenberg and Matthias Scheutz},
  year={2020},
  month={November},
  booktitle={Workshop on Creativity and Robotics: at ICSR 2020},
  url={https://hrilab.tufts.edu/publications/law2020mate.pdf}
}