Why do we like cute robots?
How do humans interact with technology? We spend a lot of time with it, depend on it in many ways, and care about it - just think about how losing your smartphone for a few days would affect your daily routine, professional life, and personal interactions. But do we empathize with technology? That depends on the context.
In 2017, Michael Stevens, the host of the Vsauce, an educational and popular science-focused YouTube channel with over 18 million subscribers and over 2.4 billion views, presented two studies on the topic in a video called Your Brain on Tech. One of the demonstrations was based on an MIT study from 2015, Emphatic Concerns and the effect of stories in human-robot interaction. It found that giving a robot movement, a name, and a personal history tends to increase its anthropomorphic effect. The anthropomorphic effect refers to anthropomorphism - practices in which humans attribute human emotional and behavioral features to non-human animals and objects. For instance, in the previously mentioned demonstration, a group of participants was presented with robot hexbugs - small machines made of plastic, metal, and electronic circuitry, nameless and with their movement capabilities switched off. Participants were then asked to destroy the devices by smashing them with a hammer, which they did, and describe their emotions - none had any negative feelings or remorse for the deed, and some even enjoyed the act. Consecutively, a different group was presented with the same hexbugs but saw them being taken out from terraria marked with their names. Additionally, the devices moved around the table, and the participants were told about their individual qualities and encouraged to pick them up. The same as the first group, after a while, the participants were instructed to smash a hexbug. They were reluctant to do it, expressed concerns for the wellbeing of the devices, and after they hit the hexbug with the hammer as instructed - admitted to feeling remorse. The results of the demonstration corroborate the MIT study's thesis - the bug machines' anthropomorphic effect was increased by their movement, names, and invented backstories, simultaneously causing humans to feel empathy and even endearment towards them.
Humans might have a stronger emotional connection to machines that have a non-human appearance, such as a robot that looks like an animal or a cartoon character, especially if they are designed to be cute or appealing in some way. Such design works better than devices made to resemble a human being because they’re unlikely to cause the "uncanny valley" effect. It refers to the discomfort or revulsion that people can sometimes feel when encountering a machine that is almost human-like but not quite. When a device has some human-like characteristics but not others, it can create a sense of discomfort or unease in people, making them feel less optimistic about the machine. On the other hand, if a machine has a non-human appearance that is cute or appealing, it may be more likely to elicit positive emotional responses from people. For example, we may be more inclined to feel affection toward a robot that looks like a bug if it is designed to be cute and charming. Ultimately, how people react to a machine is likely to be influenced by various factors, including its appearance, behavior, and the tasks it is designed to perform.
Based on the conclusions drawn in the previous paragraphs, how can designing cute, anthropomorphic robots and devices benefit companies and businesses using them? Much like robots, humans are wired to respond a certain way given specific inputs. When designers and engineers study that wiring to make products more appealing, you get the emerging field of user experience, or UX, design. For consumer robotics, a pleasant appearance may make people more willing to respond in a way that a company expects - buy and use a product or provide valuable information for the company. An example is provided in the Vsauce video mentioned above - roboticist from MIT, Alex Reben, has created a small robot equipped with a camera and intentionally adorable, cartoonish appearance, which he called the BlabDroid. The robot was then sent out to ask random pedestrians rather personal questions with its cute, childlike voice. On the camera recordings, it’s clearly visible that people reacted positively and most instantly shared intimate details about their lives and emotions, something that would likely not occur if a person asked strangers the same questions. In some ways, humans are more comfortable talking to a machine than fellow human beings. Although the BlabDroid experiment was not intended to gather business-related data, something similar would be immensely beneficial for a company attempting to get certain information from its current and potential customers. Another similar example? When shopping in a supermarket, many people are reluctant to ask a clerk for help or advice on where to find certain goods but have no issue with asking an e-assistant.
Various factors, including appearance, behavior, and tasks, influence how humans interact with technology. Giving a machine movement, a name, and a personal history can increase its anthropomorphic effect and make people more likely to feel empathy and affection towards it. However, care must be taken to avoid the "uncanny valley" effect, where a machine's human-like characteristics can cause discomfort or revulsion in people. In the field of consumer robotics, designing cute, anthropomorphic robots can be beneficial for companies, as it may make people more willing to buy and use their products.
Have you ever experienced empathy towards an inanimate electronic device? Would acquiring some adorably designed robots benefit your business?
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