Abstract
Humans tend to interact socially with humanoid devices, such as robots. Therefore, a possible application of robotics technology is the promotion of pro-social behavior, namely recycling. To test the effectiveness of this application, an experimental setting in which participants were required to dispose of waste was created. Two types of electronic instructors, a robot and a tablet computer, were located close to the disposal area to provide instructions on appropriate waste disposal. The comparison of the effectiveness of the two types of electronic instructors found that participants exposed to the robot sorted the waste more accurately than participants exposed to the tablet computer. Scores for perceived anthropomorphism and induced empathy were higher for the robot than the tablet computer. We conclude that robots, because of their anthropomorphic features, are more likely to evoke empathy than tablet computers, and thus robots can be more effective in promoting pro-social behavior.
Highlights
The applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have reached into more and more corners of human life
The results revealed that participants instructed by the robot sorted the trash more accurately than those instructed by the tablet computer
The questions to measure anthropomorphism were printed on the back of the page, and three participants in Experiment 1 did not turn over the questionnaire; they did not provide an anthropomorphism rating
Summary
The applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have reached into more and more corners of human life. Tan et al [38] manipulated perceived anthropomorphism in robotic bins to test the hypothesis that anthropomorphic devices could promote recycling through empathy induction. Participants did not interact with the robot; instead, they watched a video of individuals interacting with it This might not have reflected actual use behavior, given that studies have found that humans were more empathetic toward a physical robot than a simulated robot seen on a screen [32]. A robot or tablet computer was placed next to waste disposal bins to be used as a persuader to educate users on appropriate recycling in order to induce authentic human–robot interactions and measure actual use behavior. We hypothesized that because of the robot’s humanoid appearance, it can evoke empathy and increase use intention and appropriate recycling behavior. It would be reasonable to conclude that differences in participants’ responses to the robot and tablet computer are attributed to the anthropomorphic features of the robot instead of the content of the conveyed messages
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