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Are friends electric?

New study explores relationship between people and robots.

An international project has been launched to examine the nature of relationships between humans and robots. The project - called LIREC (Living with Robots and Interactive Companions) – is aimed at developing more emotionally intelligent technology.
 
The study led by Queen Mary, University of London brings together nine international research partners including the University of Hertfordshire, who aims to look at real and virtual technology, including robots and on-screen avatars.

Interest in artificial people

Speaking about the project, Professor Peter McOwan, from Queen Mary’s Department of Computer Science, commented: “We’re interested in how people can develop a long-term relationship with artificial creatures, in everyday settings. You may not be able to find a robot that can help you do the dishes anytime soon, but we’re hoping to explore how such friendly future technology could be developed, and start to predict what the intelligent machines of tomorrow might look like, and how we should treat them.”
 
“In addition to advancing the technology of robotic companions in LIREC, our team will also take a critical perspective and address ethical and psychological issues regarding companions,” added Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, the Principal Investigator at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Computer Science.
 
“This is essential in an area where people may bond and actually develop relationships with machines which are not able to reciprocate this emotion in a meaningful and deep way. Humans, dogs, and other creatures have authentic emotions. Regardless of how the robot looks or behaves, we must not confuse machines and people. We want to avoid a situation where a person deeply bonds with a robot, but the robot simply doesn’t care,” she concluded.