The Transition of Robot Identity from Partner to Competitor and Its Implications for Human–Robot Interaction.

With the rapid development of technology, have humans come to regard robots as their competitors? If so, how has this perception affected human–robot interactions? This present study investigated three questions about this topic. First, do humans in social circumstances spontaneously perceive robots as competitors when there is no obvious conflict of interest? If so, what factors play a role? Finally, does this competitiveness hamper interactions between humans and robots? Experiment 1 assessed the sense of competitiveness by measuring the emotional responses of subjects to a job-seeking robot. As observers, individuals responded positively to the robot's failures and adversely to its successes, revealing a competitive drive of humans toward robots. Experiment 1 further identified that competitiveness increased as a function of the robot's human-like appearance, indicating that robot human-likeness is an influential element. Experiment 2 attempted to find if human awareness of competition with robots negatively impacted human–robot interaction and, more specifically, if humans in a directly competitive relationship intentionally sabotage the robot's performance. Results demonstrated that during competition, humans focused on improving their own performance rather than sabotaging the robot's. Comparing Experiment 1 (no direct competition) to Experiment 2 (direct competition) revealed that human preference for the robot decreased significantly, indicating that competition negatively impacts human–robot interaction. This study showed humans' competitive awareness toward robots in social settings and the factors that drive it. In addition, it provides preliminary empirical evidence on how competition affects human–robot interaction in social settings and how humans will behave in the future while competing directly with robots for jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]