Robots humanization

Social robots are entering society at large. What are the emotional reactions in interacting with this technology? What are the specific worries and resistance toward social robots? In this line of research we address these questions focusing on an inherent element of robot design, the resemblance of robots to humans that is robot humanization.

To know more about this line of research, contact mariapaola.paladino@unitn.it

Selected relevant publications:

Paladino, M. P., Vaes, J., & Jetten, J. (2021). Motivational and Cognitive Underpinnings of Fear of Social Robots That Become “too Human for Us”. In The Routledge handbook of dehumanization (pp. 292-305). Routledge.

Ferrari, F., Paladino, M. P., & Jetten, J. (2016). Blurring Human–Machine Distinctions: Anthropomorphic Appearance in Social Robots as a Threat to Human Distinctiveness. International Journal of Social Robotics, 8(2), 287-302.

Our research in the media:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-humanlike-do-we-really-want-robots-to-be-180980234/

https://spectrum.ieee.org/study-nobody-wants-social-robots-that-look-like-humans