Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions

Rosanne H. Timmerman; Te Yi Hsieh; Anna Henschel; Ruud Hortensius; Emily S. Cross

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions

Rosanne H. Timmerman
, Te Yi Hsieh
, Anna Henschel
, Ruud Hortensius
, Emily S. Cross^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Glasgow
Macquarie University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In everyday life, we often observe and learn from interactions between other individuals—so-called third-party encounters. As robots are poised to become an increasingly familiar presence in our daily lives, third-party encounters between other people and robots might offer a valuable approach to influence people’s behaviors and attitudes towards robots. Here, we conducted an online experiment where participants (n = 48) watched videos of human—robot dyads interacting in a cooperative or competitive manner. Following this observation, we measured participants’ behavior and attitudes towards the human and robotic agents. First, participants played a game with the agents to measure whether their behavior was affected by their observed encounters. Second, participants’ attitudes toward the agents were measured before and after the game. We found that the third-party encounters influenced behavior during the game but not attitudes towards the observed agents. Participants showed more effort towards robots than towards humans, especially when the human and robot agents were framed as competitive in the observation phase. Our study suggests that people’s behaviors towards robots can be shaped by the mere observation of third-party encounters between robots and other people.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Social Robotics
Subtitle of host publication	13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings
Editors	Haizhou Li, Shuzhi Sam Ge, Yan Wu, Agnieszka Wykowska, Hongsheng He, Xiaorui Liu, Dongyu Li, Jairo Perez-Osorio
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	685-696
Number of pages	12
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-90525-5
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-90524-8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60
Publication status	Published - 2 Nov 2021
Event	13th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2021 - Singapore, Singapore Duration: 10 Nov 2021 → 13 Nov 2021

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	13086
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	13th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2021
Country/Territory	Singapore
City	Singapore
Period	10/11/21 → 13/11/21

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding. Research supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement number 677270 to E.S.C.), the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2018–152 to E.S.C), and the BIAL Foundation (to R.H.).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Funding

Funding. Research supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement number 677270 to E.S.C.), the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2018–152 to E.S.C), and the BIAL Foundation (to R.H.).

Keywords

Artificial agents
Competition
Cooperation
Human—robot interaction
Social cognition
Social robotics
Third-party encounters

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

Timmerman2021_Chapter_IndividualsExpendMoreEffortToCFinal published version, 832 KBLicence: Taverne

Cite this

Timmerman, R. H., Hsieh, T. Y., Henschel, A., Hortensius, R., & Cross, E. S. (2021). Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions. In H. Li, S. S. Ge, Y. Wu, A. Wykowska, H. He, X. Liu, D. Li, & J. Perez-Osorio (Eds.), Social Robotics: 13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings (1 ed., pp. 685-696). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; Vol. 13086). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

Timmerman, Rosanne H. ; Hsieh, Te Yi ; Henschel, Anna et al. / Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions. Social Robotics: 13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings. editor / Haizhou Li ; Shuzhi Sam Ge ; Yan Wu ; Agnieszka Wykowska ; Hongsheng He ; Xiaorui Liu ; Dongyu Li ; Jairo Perez-Osorio. 1. ed. Cham : Springer, 2021. pp. 685-696 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science ).

@inproceedings{5910f08c18ea43c5aa0114d9935b2728,

title = "Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human{\textendash}Robot Interactions",

abstract = "In everyday life, we often observe and learn from interactions between other individuals{\textemdash}so-called third-party encounters. As robots are poised to become an increasingly familiar presence in our daily lives, third-party encounters between other people and robots might offer a valuable approach to influence people{\textquoteright}s behaviors and attitudes towards robots. Here, we conducted an online experiment where participants (n = 48) watched videos of human{\textemdash}robot dyads interacting in a cooperative or competitive manner. Following this observation, we measured participants{\textquoteright} behavior and attitudes towards the human and robotic agents. First, participants played a game with the agents to measure whether their behavior was affected by their observed encounters. Second, participants{\textquoteright} attitudes toward the agents were measured before and after the game. We found that the third-party encounters influenced behavior during the game but not attitudes towards the observed agents. Participants showed more effort towards robots than towards humans, especially when the human and robot agents were framed as competitive in the observation phase. Our study suggests that people{\textquoteright}s behaviors towards robots can be shaped by the mere observation of third-party encounters between robots and other people.",

keywords = "Artificial agents, Competition, Cooperation, Human{\textemdash}robot interaction, Social cognition, Social robotics, Third-party encounters",

author = "Timmerman, \{Rosanne H.\} and Hsieh, \{Te Yi\} and Anna Henschel and Ruud Hortensius and Cross, \{Emily S.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding. Research supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement number 677270 to E.S.C.), the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2018{\textendash}152 to E.S.C), and the BIAL Foundation (to R.H.). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.; 13th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2021 ; Conference date: 10-11-2021 Through 13-11-2021",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5\_60",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-3-030-90524-8",

series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science ",

publisher = "Springer",

pages = "685--696",

editor = "Haizhou Li and Ge, \{Shuzhi Sam\} and Yan Wu and Agnieszka Wykowska and Hongsheng He and Xiaorui Liu and Dongyu Li and Jairo Perez-Osorio",

booktitle = "Social Robotics",

edition = "1",

}

Timmerman, RH, Hsieh, TY, Henschel, A, Hortensius, R & Cross, ES 2021, Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions. in H Li, SS Ge, Y Wu, A Wykowska, H He, X Liu, D Li & J Perez-Osorio (eds), Social Robotics: 13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings. 1 edn, Lecture Notes in Computer Science , vol. 13086, Springer, Cham, pp. 685-696, 13th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, 10/11/21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions. / Timmerman, Rosanne H.; Hsieh, Te Yi; Henschel, Anna et al.
Social Robotics: 13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings. ed. / Haizhou Li; Shuzhi Sam Ge; Yan Wu; Agnieszka Wykowska; Hongsheng He; Xiaorui Liu; Dongyu Li; Jairo Perez-Osorio. 1. ed. Cham: Springer, 2021. p. 685-696 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science ; Vol. 13086).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions

AU - Timmerman, Rosanne H.

AU - Hsieh, Te Yi

AU - Henschel, Anna

AU - Hortensius, Ruud

AU - Cross, Emily S.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding. Research supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement number 677270 to E.S.C.), the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2018–152 to E.S.C), and the BIAL Foundation (to R.H.). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

PY - 2021/11/2

Y1 - 2021/11/2

N2 - In everyday life, we often observe and learn from interactions between other individuals—so-called third-party encounters. As robots are poised to become an increasingly familiar presence in our daily lives, third-party encounters between other people and robots might offer a valuable approach to influence people’s behaviors and attitudes towards robots. Here, we conducted an online experiment where participants (n = 48) watched videos of human—robot dyads interacting in a cooperative or competitive manner. Following this observation, we measured participants’ behavior and attitudes towards the human and robotic agents. First, participants played a game with the agents to measure whether their behavior was affected by their observed encounters. Second, participants’ attitudes toward the agents were measured before and after the game. We found that the third-party encounters influenced behavior during the game but not attitudes towards the observed agents. Participants showed more effort towards robots than towards humans, especially when the human and robot agents were framed as competitive in the observation phase. Our study suggests that people’s behaviors towards robots can be shaped by the mere observation of third-party encounters between robots and other people.

AB - In everyday life, we often observe and learn from interactions between other individuals—so-called third-party encounters. As robots are poised to become an increasingly familiar presence in our daily lives, third-party encounters between other people and robots might offer a valuable approach to influence people’s behaviors and attitudes towards robots. Here, we conducted an online experiment where participants (n = 48) watched videos of human—robot dyads interacting in a cooperative or competitive manner. Following this observation, we measured participants’ behavior and attitudes towards the human and robotic agents. First, participants played a game with the agents to measure whether their behavior was affected by their observed encounters. Second, participants’ attitudes toward the agents were measured before and after the game. We found that the third-party encounters influenced behavior during the game but not attitudes towards the observed agents. Participants showed more effort towards robots than towards humans, especially when the human and robot agents were framed as competitive in the observation phase. Our study suggests that people’s behaviors towards robots can be shaped by the mere observation of third-party encounters between robots and other people.

KW - Artificial agents

KW - Competition

KW - Cooperation

KW - Human—robot interaction

KW - Social cognition

KW - Social robotics

KW - Third-party encounters

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U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85119870250

SN - 978-3-030-90524-8

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A2 - Liu, Xiaorui

A2 - Li, Dongyu

A2 - Perez-Osorio, Jairo

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

T2 - 13th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2021

Y2 - 10 November 2021 through 13 November 2021

ER -

Timmerman RH, Hsieh TY, Henschel A, Hortensius R, Cross ES. Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions. In Li H, Ge SS, Wu Y, Wykowska A, He H, Liu X, Li D, Perez-Osorio J, editors, Social Robotics: 13th International Conference, ICSR 2021, Singapore, Singapore, November 10–13, 2021, Proceedings. 1 ed. Cham: Springer. 2021. p. 685-696. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science ). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-90525-5_60

Individuals Expend More Effort to Compete Against Robots Than Humans After Observing Competitive Human–Robot Interactions

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

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