Abstract
This paper discuss the phenomenon of empathy in social robotics and is divided into three main parts. Initially, I analyse whether it is correct to use this concept to study and describe people’s reactions to robots. I present arguments in favour of the position that people actually do empathise with robots. I also consider what circumstances shape human empathy with these entities. I propose that two basic classes of such factors be distinguished: biological and socio-cognitive. In my opinion, one of the most important among them is a sense of group membership with robots, as it modulates the empathic responses to representatives of our- and other- groups. The sense of group membership with robots may be co-shaped by socio-cognitive factors such as one’s experience, familiarity with the robot and its history, motivation, accepted ontology, stereotypes or language. Finally, I argue in favour of the formulation of a pragmatic and normative framework for manipulations in the level of empathy in human–robot interactions.
Highlights
Social robots are becoming increasingly common elements of our reality
The concept of empathy is one that frequently appears in research from psychology and neuroscience that deals with human–robot interactions [38, 39, 102, 131, 144]
I argued in favour of the thesis that using the concept of empathy to study, analyse and explain interactions between people and social robots is a correct one
Summary
Social robots are becoming increasingly common elements of our reality. Such robots ( referred to as companion robots or artificial companions) are defined as “a physically embodied, autonomous agent[s] that communicates and interacts with humans on a social level” [37, p. As in the case of interpersonal relations, many factors shape human interaction with robots. The main aim of this paper is to analyse factors influencing the process of empathising with robots and the consequences that result from this phenomenon.
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