More than appearance: the uncanny valley effect changes with a robot’s mental capacity

Yin, Jun; Wang, Shiqi; Guo, Wenjiao; Shao, Meixuan

doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02298-y

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Similarly, mind attribution can enhance con gural processing of faces [43], which in turn may sensitize the negative evaluation of deviations [15]. Thus, mind attribution may increase uncanniness by sensitizing to deviations [40,54,55].…”

Section: Theories On the Uncanny Valleymentioning

confidence: 99%

The vocal uncanny valley: Deviation from typical organic voices best explains uncanniness.

Diel

Lewis

2023

Preprint

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The uncanny valley describes the negative evaluation of near humanlike artificial entities. Previous research with synthetic and real voices failed to find an uncanny valley of voices. This may have been due to the selection of stimuli. In Experiment 1 (n = 50), synthetic, normal, and deviating voices (distorted and pathological) were rated on uncanniness and human likeness and categorized as human or non-human. Results showed a non-monotonic function when the uncanniness was plotted against human likeness indicative of an uncanny valley. However, the shape could be divided into two monotonic functions based on voice type (synthetic vs deviating). Categorization ambiguity could not predict voice uncanniness but moderated the effect of realism on uncanniness. Experiment 2 (n = 35) found that perceived organicness of voices significantly moderated the effect of realism on uncanniness, while attribution of mind or animacy did not. Results indicate a vocal uncanny valley re-imagined as monotonic functions of two types of deviations from typical human voices. While voices can fall into an uncanny valley, synthetic voices successfully escape it. Finally, the results support the account that uncanniness is caused by deviations from familiar categories, rather than categorical ambiguity or the misattribution of mind or animacy.

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Section: Theories On the Uncanny Valleymentioning

confidence: 99%

The vocal uncanny valley: Deviation from typical organic voices best explains uncanniness.

Diel

Lewis

2023

Preprint

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“…There is no linear correlation between the anthropomorphic look of the robots and positive emotional responses. The decrease in the curve of the correlation between anthropomorphic robots and positive emotional response is called the uncanny valley effect (Yin et al, 2021). The concept of uncanny valley, which was initially introduced by Masahiro Mori in 1970, argues that the increase anthropomorphic features of robots would lead to fright, disgust and fear among humans after a while (Katsyri et al, 2015;Lay et al, 2016;Mori et al, 2012;Wang et al, 2015).…”

Section: Robot Types Employed In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Social Robot Interaction, Anthropomorphism And Ontological Boundary Problem In Education

2022

PERR

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Education Social RobotHuman-Social Robot Interaction Anthropomorphism Psychological Anthropomorphism Ontological categories Artificial intelligence and robotics technologies do not manufacture robots only for industrial use, but also for healthcare, marketing, tourism and accommodation industries where social interaction is prevalent. Service robots are social robots that interact directly with individuals and to fulfill the physical, cognitive, emotional and social needs of individuals. Recently, it was observed that the number of studies on the employment of social robots in education has increased. These studies reported positive findings on the employment of social robots in educational settings; however, they also indicated certain problems. One of these problems was the ontological boundary problem due to the anthropomorphic design of these robots. Certain studies on human-social robot interaction demonstrated that the human-machine distinction has blurred, humans started to attribute anthropogenic traits to these robots such as intention, emotion and purpose, while these studies categorized these robots as live or hybrid. Anthropomorphizing the robots and the ambiguity of their ontological category could lead to problems such as excessive attachment, social isolation, and violation of privacy, and perceptions of the individuals about their existence could be altered. The present article aimed to provide information about the studies conducted on the employment of social robots in education, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of humansocial robot interaction based on anthropomorphism and ontological boundary problem. Finally, certain recommendations are presented about the employment of social robots in education.

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“…with human-like appearances and capable of human-like behaviors and actions–with the aim of reducing negative feelings in order to accelerate adoption (Walters et al. , 2008; Yin et al. , 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, robotic engineers have focused on designing robots that are highly anthropomorphic, i.e. with human-like appearances and capable of human-like behaviors and actions-with the aim of reducing negative feelings in order to accelerate adoption (Walters et al, 2008;Yin et al, 2021). As a result, there has been a proliferation of academic research on how the level of anthropomorphism in service robots affects customers' experiences and perceptions (Letheren et al, 2021;Kim et al, 2019;Murphy et al, 2021;Blut et al, 2022;Seo, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does service robot anthropomorphism affect human co-workers?

Tojib

Sujan

et al. 2023

JOSM

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PurposeService robots are gradually becoming more anthropomorphic and intelligent. This research aims to investigate how anthropomorphic service robots with different levels of intelligence affect their human counterparts.Design/methodology/approachTwo between-subject experimental studies were used to test whether different levels of service robot anthropomorphism with different levels of intelligence influence employees' morale and resistance to service robots.FindingsStudy 1 shows that the effect of service robot anthropomorphism (low vs. high) on employees' resistance and morale is mediated by perceived job-security threat. Study 2 validates this mediating effect and shows that it is moderated by the type of AI (mechanical vs. analytical). Specifically, when exposed to mechanical AI-powered service robots, employees exhibit a higher perceived job-security threat toward robots with a high (vs. low) degree of anthropomorphism. This moderating effect is not observed when employees are exposed to analytical AI-powered service robots. This moderated mediation effect is also found for the signing of a petition as the behavioral outcome.Practical implicationsService firms considering the adoption of mechanical AI-powered service robots should choose a low (vs. high) anthropomorphic robot to reduce the sense of job-security threat felt by human employees, which subsequently increases their acceptance. However, if analytical AI-powered service robots with are to replace their human employees, the degree of anthropomorphism becomes irrelevant.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study to explore how anthropomorphic service robots can influence human employees' evaluations and behaviors.

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More than appearance: the uncanny valley effect changes with a robot’s mental capacity

Cited by 10 publications

References 62 publications

The vocal uncanny valley: Deviation from typical organic voices best explains uncanniness.

The vocal uncanny valley: Deviation from typical organic voices best explains uncanniness.

Human-Social Robot Interaction, Anthropomorphism And Ontological Boundary Problem In Education

How does service robot anthropomorphism affect human co-workers?

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