Using robots to probe how people react to simple behaviours

Using robots to probe how people react to simple behaviours



Cognitive neuroscientist Agnieszka Wykowska works with iCub robots to explore what sort of feelings or thoughts robots evoke in people. Despite her intimacy with the cold, hard truth of iCub’s nature, she’s not immune to anthropomorphizing it. “I must say that I do feel attached to the robot sometimes,” says Wykowska. “Very often, I think, ‘Oh, my robot is sad, annoyed or bored right now.’”