Stereotypes in social robots : How accents & appearances in social robots affect human-robot interactions.

Abstract: Stereotypes are affecting our daily lives. From the interactions between human beings to political decisions from law makers, stereotypes are part of our subconscious tools of perception. While being a common denominator in many worldwide organizations’ target goals, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, many kinds of stereotypes are present and remain a hot topic in discussions. On another front, as artificial intelligence is on the rise, social robots are improving, and they are becoming increasingly relevant to different industries as of today. As social robots are intended to interact directly with people, and are often designed to emulate human beings, questions arise on how these designs should be made to make interactions with people as smooth and successful as possible. In this study we investigated if stereotypes are applicable in human-robot interaction. Contrary to our original belief we found no significant evidence of stereotypes in interactions with robots.