Study: Even Bad Robot Trash Talk Can Distract Players

Researchers demonstrated that discouraging words can be perturbing—even when uttered by a robot (via Carnegie Mellon University)

Trash talk hurts—even when it comes from a robot.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University demonstrated that disparaging words can fluster an opponent, no matter who—or what—utters them.

In a study led by Aaron Roth, humanoid robot Pepper mocked and taunted game players, administering zingers like “I have to say you are a terrible player” and “Over the course of the game your playing has become confused.”

Ouch.

Despite the android’s decidedly gentle ribbing, people who played against the bot performed worse when it discouraged them and better when it was supportive.

Some of the 40 participants were “technically sophisticated,” and “fully understood” a machine was the source of their discomfort.

“One participant said, ‘I don’t like what the robot is saying, but that’s the way it was programmed, so I can’t blame it,'” according to Roth, who conducted the study as a master’s student in the CMU Robotics Institute.

His research marks a departure from typical human-android interaction studies, which tend to focus on how people and bots can work together.

“This is one of the first studies of human-robot interaction in an environment where they are not cooperating,” study co-author Fei Fang, an assistant professor in the Institute for Software Research, said in a statement.

Pepper the robot (via SoftBank)

In a world where artificial intelligence continues sneaking into our everyday lives, it’s important to understand the complicated relationship between people and advanced technology.

“We can expect home assistants to be cooperative,” Fang continued. “But in situations such as online shopping, they may not have the same goals as we do.”

The study, born from a student project, explores the use of game theory and bounded rationality in the context of robots.

A team of researchers pitted people against a bot in the game “Guards and Treasures,” often used to study rationality.

Each participant played the game 35 times with the robot—either bathing in encouragement or feeling the sting of smack talk. And while the humans’ rationality improved as gameplay increased, those who were criticized didn’t score as well as folks who were praised.

The machine’s ability to prompt responses could have implications for automated learning, mental health treatment, and the use of robots as companions, according to Afsaneh Doryab, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia (and former systems scientist at CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute).

Semi-humanoid robot Pepper, introduced by SoftBank in 2014, is designed to analyze expressions and voice tones to detect emotion.

Its main goal is to enhance mortals’ lives, facilitate relationships, and connect people with the outside world—not act as an in-home maid. The machine has been employed as a receptionist at several UK offices, as well as in banks, medical facilities, and Hamazushi restaurants in Japan.

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