Robots and Events: Participant Preferences for Robot Services

Abstract

Robots are rapidly taking over tasks in the workplace. However, there has been little or no research on the specifics of how the public views the use of robotic technologies in events. In this research note, we use data from a large-scale international survey to learn about how the general public views the use of robots in events and what attitudes and demographics are associated with acceptance of greater use of robots as labor in events. The findings show that the public is most supportive of using robots to supply information at events and least supportive of using robots as entertainers at events. However, regressions illustrate a general willingness to have robots do tasks for events and a generally positive attitude towards robots. These attitudes are best correlated with the acceptance of higher ratios of robots in the labor force at events.