Program

Invited Speaker

Kaoru Sumi

Future University

Hakodate, Japan

Title: Designing Ethical Deception in Human–Robot Interaction

Abstract: Deception is often treated as a problem to be eliminated in HRI. However, many interactive systems inherently shape users’ perceptions, emotions, and beliefs in ways that do not fully reflect their underlying mechanisms. From anthropomorphic appearances to emotionally expressive behaviors and embodied interaction, artificial agents routinely create experiences that can be understood as forms of designed illusion. In this talk, I argue that deception in HRI is not merely a defect, but a fundamental design mechanism. Drawing on research in persuasive technology, affective computing, and mixed reality, I present empirical examples showing how users are influenced by emotionally expressive agents, how human-like representations increase trust and susceptibility to misinformation, and how embodied agents can enhance social presence and reduce loneliness. However, under what conditions can such designed deception be considered ethically acceptable? Rather than advocating for the elimination of deception, I propose a design-oriented approach that distinguishes between harmful and beneficial forms of deception. In particular, I discuss how ethical boundaries can be framed in terms of user well-being, autonomy, transparency, and reversibility, especially when interacting with vulnerable populations such as children and older adults.

BIO

Kaoru Sumi is a Professor at Future University Hakodate, Japan. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on human–agent interaction, persuasive technology, and affective computing, with particular emphasis on how artificial agents influence human perception, emotion, and behavior. Her recent work explores social presence, embodiment, and ethical design in interactive systems, including mixed reality agents and AI-driven communication. She served as General Chair of the International Conference on Persuasive Technology (PERSUASIVE 2026). She contributes to the research community through editorial roles, including Associate Editor for Behaviour & Information Technology (Taylor & Francis) and Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (AI for Human Learning and Behavior Change), as well as Editorial Board Member of JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments). She also serves as Guest Editor for the Frontiers research topic on “Next-Generation Persuasive Technologies for Human–AI Interaction and Behavior Change.” Her recent book, Affective Learning and Serious Games (CRC Press), was published in 2026. She is a Senior Member of both ACM and IEEE and has been actively involved in IEEE activities, including leadership roles in Women in Engineering (WIE).

Invited Speaker

Robert Sparrow

Monash University

Melbourne, Australia

Title: Just pretending? Make-believe, self-deception, and social robots

Abstract: A number of scholars have suggested that the relationship between social robots and their users should be thought of as a form of “make believe” or, as I shall prefer here, “pretending”, rather than deception. In this talk I will evaluate this proposal and offer some thoughts on its implications for the ethics of the design of social robots. I argue that it is not plausible to hold that robots are pretending to have certain internal states or capacities as they are incapable of forming the intentions that are essential to pretence. Nor is it plausible to hold that the designers or manufacturers of social robots are pretending that robots have these properties, because doing so would undercut the designers’ claims about the utility of social robots. If there is pretending going on, it must be that users are pretending that robots have internal states or capacities that they do not in fact have. While pretence is clearly possible with robots, I argue that in most cases in which people treat robots “as if” they had minds or emotions an analysis in terms of self-deception remains more appropriate. Finally, I point out that it may be unethical to pretend that certain things are true and also to encourage other people to do so. A focus on pretending therefore reveals a further, distinct set of ethical issues, in addition to – rather than instead of – those raised by the ways in which social robots are “designed to deceive”.

BIO

Rob Sparrow (BA (Hons) (Melb.), PhD (A.N.U.)) is a Professor in the Philosophy Program, and an Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society at Monash University, where he works on ethical issues raised by new technologies. He has been an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Visiting Fellow. He has published widely, in both academic journals and the popular press, on the ethics of robotics and AI. He has served as co-chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Robot Ethics and was one of the founding members of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.

Schedule

8:30 - 8:45 | Welcome & introduction

8:45 - 9:45 | Keynote Speaker: Kaoru Sumi

9:45 - 10:00 | Raquel Fernández-Hernández et al.: The Ethical Threshold:

Contextual Empathy and Prosocial Deception in

Neurodivergent Human-Robot Interaction

10:00 - 10:15 | Luca Raggioli et al. : Robot Errors and Deception: a Theory

of Mind Perspective in HRI

10:15 - 10:30 | Raffaella Esposito et al.: Prosocial Deception and Sense of

Agency in Human-Robot Interaction: A Pilot Study

10:30 - 10:50 | Coffee break

10:50 - 11:50 | Keynote Speaker: Robert Sparrow

11:50 - 12:05 | Kantwon Rogers et al.: Beyond Obedience: Co-Designing

Social Friction in Robots with Children to Mitigate Overtrust

12:05 - 12:20 | Rachele Carli: Evaluating Social Robotics Through

Vulnerability Theory: Shifting the Debate from Deception

to Dependency

12:20 - 12:55 | Working session

12:55 - 13:00 | Conclusions

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