Robots can be companions, caregivers, collaborators — and social influencers
Robot and artificial intelligence are poised to increase their influences within our every day lives In the mid-1990s, there was research going on at Stanford University that would change the way we think about computers. The Media Equation experiments were simple: participants were asked to interact with a computer that acted socially for a few minutes after which, they were asked to give feedback about the interaction . Participants would provide this feedback either on the same computer (No. 1) they had just been working on or on another computer (No. 2) across the room. The study found that participants responding on computer No. 2 were far more critical of computer No. 1 than those responding on the same machine they’d worked on. People responding on the first computer seemed to not want to hurt the computer’s feelings to its face , but had no problem talking about it behind its back . This phenomenon became known as the computers as social actors (CASA) paradigm becau