The International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) is, next to Robophilosophy, the most important conference on social robotics. The deadline for paper submission is approaching. „The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) will bring together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. ICSR 2023 will take place in Doha as a face-to-face conference on December 4-7, 2023. This will be the first time that the conference will be hosted in Qatar and in the Middle East and North Africa region.“ (Website ICSR) The theme of this year’s ICSR is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace“. According to the organizers, the theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. Papers can be submitted until August 21, 2023. Notifications will be made by September 18 of that year. More information via icsr23.qa.
For years there has been a trend to add social features to service robots, such as delivery, security and cleaning robots, and also to industrial robots, resulting in cobots. They do not usually become fully social robots, but they benefit from having eyes and mouths or making sounds – or from being able to get very close to people without hurting or hindering them. Amazon is riding this wave with its Proteus transport robot. It can be found in a huge department store in Reading, Massachusetts. A Wired editor writes about his first encounter with two Proteus models: „Their round eyes and satisfied grins are rendered with light emitting diodes. They sport small lidar sensors like tiny hats that scan nearby objects and people in 3D. Suddenly, one of them plays a chipper little tune, its mouth starts flashing, and its eyes morph into heart shapes. This means, I am told, that the robot is happy.“ (Wired, 26 June 2023) „Why would a robot be happy?“, asks the editor Sophie Li, a software engineer at Amazon. She explains that being able to express happiness can help Proteus work more effectively around people. „Proteus carries suitcase-sized plastic bins filled with packages over to trucks in a loading bay that is also staffed by humans. The robot is smart enough to distinguish people from inanimate objects and make its own decisions about how to navigate around a box or person in its path. But sometimes it needs to tell someone to move out of the way – or that it is stuck, which it does by showing different colors with its mouth. Li recently added the heart eyes to let Proteus also signal when it has completed a task as planned.“ (Wired, 26 June 2023) The market for real social robots is still in its infancy. Care and therapy robots, entertainment and toy robots, or sex robots – there is a constant up and down, with companies emerging and disappearing, products appearing and disappearing. It is uncertain whether all social robots will be needed. What is certain is that social features will help to improve modern industrial robots and classic service robots.
„Researchers at Columbia Engineering have demonstrated a highly dexterous robot hand, one that combines an advanced sense of touch with motor learning algorithms in order to achieve a high level of dexterity.“ (Website Columbia Engineering, 28 April 2023) Columbia Engineering reported this on its website on April 28, 2023. The text goes on to say: „As a demonstration of skill, the team chose a difficult manipulation task: executing an arbitrarily large rotation of an unevenly shaped grasped object in hand while always maintaining the object in a stable, secure hold. This is a very difficult task because it requires constant repositioning of a subset of fingers, while the other fingers have to keep the object stable. Not only was the hand able to perform this task, but it also did it without any visual feedback whatsoever, based solely on touch sensing.“ (Website Columbia Engineering, 28 April 2023) „While our demonstration was on a proof-of-concept task, meant to illustrate the capabilities of the hand, we believe that this level of dexterity will open up entirely new applications for robotic manipulation in the real world“, said Matei Ciocarlie according to the website. He is the Associate Professor in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science who developed the hand together with his graduate student Gagan Khandate.
From March 27-29, 2023, the AAAI 2023 Spring Symposia featured the symposium „Socially Responsible AI for Well-being“ by Takashi Kido (Teikyo University, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan). This time the venue was exceptionally not Stanford University, but the Hyatt Regency SFO Airport. On March 28, Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel presented the paper „Increasing Well-being through Robotic Hugs“, written by himself, Andrea Puljic, Robin Heiz, Furkan Tömen, and Ivan De Paola. The paper has now been published as a preprint and can be downloaded via arxiv.org/abs/2304.14409. From the abstract: „This paper addresses the question of how to increase the acceptability of a robot hug and whether such a hug contributes to well-being. It combines the lead author’s own research with pioneering research by Alexis E. Block and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker. First, the basics of this area are laid out with particular attention to the work of the two scientists. The authors then present HUGGIE Project I, which largely consisted of an online survey with nearly 300 participants, followed by HUGGIE Project II, which involved building a hugging robot and testing it on 136 people. At the end, the results are linked to current research by Block and Kuchenbecker, who have equipped their hugging robot with artificial intelligence to better respond to the needs of subjects.“ More information on the conference via aaai.org/conference/spring-symposia/sss23/.
Fig.: Oliver Bendel during his talk (Photo: Lea Peier)
How do social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis in 2021 at the School of Business FHNW, 23-year-old students Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. The first is a pillow to which a tail has been added. Its name is Petanion, a portmanteau of „pet“ and „companion“. The tail could move like the tail of a cat or dog. In addition, the pillow could make certain sounds. It would be optimal if the tail movements were based on the behavior of the user. Thus, as desired, a social robot is created from a simple, soft form, in this case a pet substitute. Petanion is soft and cute and survives a long time. It can also be used if one has certain allergies or if there is not enough space or money in a household for a pet. Last but not least, the ecological balance is probably better – above all, the robot does not eat animals that come from factory farming. The inspiration may have been Qoobo, a pillow with a tail, designed to calm and to „heal the heart“. Panasonic also believes in robots that emerge from simple, soft forms. It promotes its new robot NICOBO as a „yowai robotto“, a “weak” robot that has hardly any functions or capabilities. The round, cute robot has two separate displays as eyes and a tail that it constantly moves. According to the company, it is aimed primarily at singles and the elderly. There could well be a high demand for it, even beyond the target groups.
Fig.: NICOBO in the arms of its owner (Photo: Panasonic)
Next to Robophilosophy, ICSR may be the most important conference on social robotics. The fourteenth edition took place in Florence at the end of 2022 and was dedicated to the health sector. „The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) will bring together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. ICSR 2023 will take place in Doha as a face-to-face conference on December 4-7, 2023. This will be the first time that the conference will be hosted in Qatar and in the Middle East and North Africa region.“ (Website ICSR) The theme of this year’s ICSR is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace“. According to the organizers, the theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. More information and CfP via icsr23.qa.
In January 2023, the proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022 were published, under the title „Social Robots in Social Institutions“. „This book presents the Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022, the 5th event in the biennial Robophilosophy conference series, held in Helsinki, Finland, from 16 to 19 August 2022. The theme of this edition of the conference was Social Robots in Social Institutions, and it featured international multidisciplinary research from the humanities, social sciences, Human-Robot Interaction, and social robotics. The 63 papers, 41 workshop papers and 5 posters included in this book are divided into 4 sections: plenaries, sessions, workshops and posters, with the 41 papers in the ‚Sessions‘ section grouped into 13 subdivisions including elderly care, healthcare, law, education and art, as well as ethics and religion. These papers explore the anticipated conceptual and practical changes which will come about in the course of introducing social robotics into public and private institutions, such as public services, legal systems, social and healthcare services, or educational institutions.“ (Website IOS Press) The proceedings contain the paper „Robots in Policing“ by Oliver Bendel and the poster „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ by Katharina Kühne, Melinda A. Jeglinski-Mende, and Oliver Bendel. More information via www.iospress.com/catalog/books/social-robots-in-social-institutions.
On the morning of December 15, 2022, the session „Ethics, Gender & Trust in Social Robotics“ was held at ICSR 2022. Chairs were Giulia Perugia and Oliver Bendel. Dimitri Lacroix started the session with „I designed it, so I trust it: the influence of customization on psychological ownership and trust toward robots“. He showed that in line with the predictions of the authors, customization significantly increases psychological ownership and trust toward the robot. JeeLoo Liu gave a talk on the topic of „Human-in-the-Loop Ethical AI for Care Robots and Confucian Virtue Ethics“. She explicated how Confucian virtue ethics can respond to human expectations of what kind of virtuous care robots we want in our society. Jean Choi spoke about „Effects of Realistic Appearance and Consumer Gender on Pet Robot Adoption“. By adopting theories from marketing and consumer research, the authors hypothesized that pet robots with lifelike appearance would be preferred to pet robots with machinelike appearances. They also predicted that the positive effect of lifelike appearance would be reduced for female consumers. According to the researchers, the experimental results confirmed the formulated hypotheses. The last talk was „Ambivalent Stereotypes Towards Gendered Robots: The (Im)mutability of Bias Towards Female and Neutral Robots“ by Stefano Guidi. According to the team, the results disclosed that female robots activate paternalistic stereotypes, while male robots do not. Moreover, they reveal that the ambivalence of these stereotypes is stronger in men than in women. The analyses also showed that neutral robots activate paternalistic stereotypes in men and envious stereotypes in women. More information on the conference via www.icsr2022.it.
Fig.: JeeLoo Liu during her presentation (Photo: Marc Heimann)
According to Mission Local, a policy proposal heading for Board of Supervisors approval next week would explicitly authorize San Francisco police to kill suspects using robots. It is the following wording that is causing discussion: “Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available to SFPD.“ According to the local newspaper, this could mark a legal crossing of the Rubicon: „Robot use-of-force has never before been approved, nor has it ever been prohibited, in San Francisco.“ (Mission Local, 22 November 2022) Of what kind of arsenal are we talking, anyway? „The SFPD has 17 robots in its arsenal, 12 of which it describes as fully functional. According to police spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca, they have never been used to attack anyone. The robots are remote-controlled, and are typically used to investigate and defuse potential bombs or to surveil areas too awkward or dangerous for officers to access.“ (Mission Local, 22 November 2022) In August 2022, Oliver Bendel gave a talk about police robots at the Robophilosophy 2022 conference. The paper will be published in a few weeks.
Two of the most important conferences for social robotics are Robophilosophy and ICSR. After Robophilosophy, a biennial, was last held in Helsinki in August 2022, ICSR is now coming up in Florence (13 – 16 December 2022). „The 14th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2022) brings together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. … The theme of this year’s conference is Social Robots for Assisted Living and Healthcare, emphasising on the increasing importance of social robotics in human daily living and society.“ (Website ICSR) The committee sent out notifications by October 15, 2022. The paper „The CARE-MOMO Project“ by Oliver Bendel and Marc Heimann was accepted. This is a project that combines machine ethics and social robotics. The invention of the morality menu was transferred to a care robot for the first time. The care recipient can use sliders on the display to determine how he or she wants to be treated. This allows them to transfer their moral and social beliefs and ideas to the machine. The morality module (MOMO) is intended for the Lio assistance robot from F&P Robotics. The result will be presented at the end of October 2022 at the company headquarters in Glattbrugg near Zurich. More information on the conference via www.icsr2022.it.
Fig.: The conference will take place at the Chamber of Commerce (far left)
On the first day of Robophilosophy 2022, Oliver Bendel presented his paper „Robots in Policing“ … From the abstract: „This article is devoted to the question of how robots are used in policing and what opportunities and risks arise in social terms. It begins by briefly explaining the characteristics of modern police work. It puts service robots and social robots in relation to each other and outlines relevant disciplines. The article also lists types of robots that are and could be relevant in the present context. It then gives examples from different countries of the use of robots in police work and security services. From these, it derives the central tasks of robots in this area and their most important technical features. A discussion from social, ethical, and technical perspectives seeks to provide clarity on how robots are changing the police as a social institution and with social actions and relationships, and what challenges need to be addressed.“ (Abstract) Robots in policing are a topic that has yet to receive much attention. However, it is likely to become considerably more topical in the next few years. More information about the conference on cas.au.dk/en/robophilosophy/conferences/rpc2022.
Fig.: A poster at the entrance of the University of Helsinki
At the Robophilosophy conference 2018 in Vienna, Hiroshi Ishiguro gave a keynote, as did Guy Standing, Catelijne Muller, Oliver Bendel, and others. His personal presence, combined with provocative statements, inspired many attendees. In Helsinki in 2022, he joined online and gave a talk („Realization of the Avatar Symbiotic Society: The Concept and Technologies“) within the workshop „ELSI of the Avatar Symbiotic Society“. The workshop was announced on the website as follows: „We are currently promoting a project to develop (physical or virtual) avatar technology and to create a society where everyone can engage in various activities as they wish, beyond physical constraints, by using avatars. We are particularly concerned with enriching our communications, interactions, and relationships through avatars. However, this aim cannot be achieved by technology alone. We have to consider the ELSI (ethical, legal and social issues) concerning avatars as well. In this workshop, the speakers will introduce some of our technologies and then raise ethical and legal questions concerning avatars. Then we would like to discuss these issues with all the participants.“ (Website Robophilosophy) Further information via cas.au.dk/robophilosophy/conferences/rpc2022/program.
Fig.: Hiroshi Ishiguro and his ideas of the year 2050
Robophilosophy 2022 at the University of Helsinki is the fifth event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series. It „will explore the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions with its usual broad scope, embracing both theoretical and practical angles“ (CfP Robophilosophy). It „is an invitation to philosophers and other SSH researchers, as well as researchers in social robotics and HRI, to investigate from interdisciplinarily informed perspectives whether and how social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavour can contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society“ (CfP Robophilosophy). Social institutions include retirement and nursing homes, strip clubs and brothels, monasteries and seminaries, and police departments. Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW) will have the opportunity to present his paper entitled „Robots in Policing“ in session 1, „Robots in Law and Policing“. Cindy Friedman („Granting Negative Rights to Humanoid Robots“) and Jakob Stenseke („The Use and Abuse of Normative Ethics for Moral Machines“) will speak after him. In addition, a poster by Katharina Kühne and Melinda Mende (University of Potsdam) as well als Oliver Bendel entitled „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ was accepted. The full program is now available online.
On June 30, 2022, the paper „Should Social Robots in Retail Manipulate Customers?“ by Oliver Bendel and Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves was published on arxiv.org. It was presented at the AAAI 2022 Spring Symposium „How Fair is Fair? Achieving Wellbeing AI“ at Stanford University and came in third place in the Best Presentation Awards. From the abstract: „Against the backdrop of structural changes in the retail trade, social robots have found their way into retail stores and shopping malls in order to attract, welcome, and greet customers; to inform them, advise them, and persuade them to make a purchase. Salespeople often have a broad knowledge of their product and rely on offering competent and honest advice, whether it be on shoes, clothing, or kitchen appliances. However, some frequently use sales tricks to secure purchases. The question arises of how consulting and sales robots should “behave”. Should they behave like human advisors and salespeople, i.e., occasionally manipulate customers? Or should they be more honest and reliable than us? This article tries to answer these questions. After explaining the basics, it evaluates a study in this context and gives recommendations for companies that want to use consulting and sales robots. Ultimately, fair, honest, and trustworthy robots in retail are a win-win situation for all concerned.“ The paper will additionally be published in the proceedings volume of the symposium by the end of summer. It can be downloaded via arxiv.org/abs/2206.14571.
Fig.: Social robots with sales tricks (Photo: Daimler and Benz Foundation)
Robophilosophy 2022 is the fifth event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series. It „will explore the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions with its usual broad scope, embracing both theoretical and practical angles“ (CfP Robophilosophy). It „is an invitation to philosophers and other SSH researchers, as well as researchers in social robotics and HRI, to investigate from interdisciplinarily informed perspectives whether and how social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavour can contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society“ (CfP Robophilosophy). Social institutions include retirement and nursing homes, strip clubs and brothels, monasteries and seminaries, and police departments. As announced by the organizers on April 15, Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW) will have the opportunity to present his paper entitled „Robots in Policing“ at the conference. It is about how service robots and social robots are changing policing as „social work“. In addition, a poster by Katharina Kühne and Melinda Mende (University of Potsdam) as well als Oliver Bendel entitled „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ was accepted.
On 25 February 2022, the article „Passive, Active, and Proactive Systems and Machines for the Protection and Preservation of Animals and Animal Species“ by Oliver Bendel was published in Frontiers in Animal Science. From the abstract: „Digitalization and automation are expanding into many areas, resulting in more widespread use of partially and fully autonomous machines and robots. At the same time, environmental and other crises and disasters are on the rise, the world population is growing, and animals are losing their habitat. Increasingly, machines and robots such as agricultural vehicles, autonomous cars, robotic lawnmowers, or social robots are encountering animals of all kinds. In the process, the latter are injured or killed. Some machines can be designed so that this does not happen. Relevant disciplines and research areas briefly introduced here are machine ethics, social robotics, animal-machine interaction, and animal-computer interaction. In addition, animal welfare is important. Passive and active machines—as they are called in this review—are already appearing and help to observe and protect animals. Proactive machines may play a role in the future. They could use the possibilities of full automation and autonomy to save animals from suffering in agriculture or in the wild. During crises and disasters and in extensive nature reserves, they could observe, care for, and protect animals. The review provides initial considerations on active, passive, and proactive machines and how they can be used in an animal preservation context while bearing in mind recent technical and global developments.“ The article is part of the research topic „Animal-Computer Interaction and Beyond: The Benefits of Animal-Centered Research and Design“ and can be accessed at www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.834634/full.
How can you make social robots out of simple, soft shapes and objects, i.e. robots for interacting with people and animals? Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, Vietnamese student Nhi Hoang Yen Tran and her fellow student Thang Vu Hoang investigated this question in the project „Simple, Soft Social Robots“ at the FHNW School of Business. They used Hugvie from Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories as the basis for their considerations – these labs are most famous for the Geminoid and for Erica. But hugging robots like Telenoid also come from them. The latest product from this series is Hugvie. A pocket for a smartphone is attached to its head. People who are far away from each other can talk to each other and have the impression of hugging and feeling each other. But what else can be done with Hugvie and similar forms? The two students have come up with eleven suggestions. A video explains five of them. Two of them are variants of Hugvie. With their result, the two students have received the highest performance in the bachelor thesis among all graduates of BSc International Management in 2021.
Simple, soft shapes are everywhere. In our home environment you can find pillows, blankets, balls, bottles, clothes, etc. Robots are often expensive and complex. But couldn’t they be thought of in a completely different way? How could social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis at the School of Business FHNW, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. All are shown on informationsethik.net. The eleventh proposal is Rish (go here to the previous). Rish moves like a fish and looks similar to a fish. Thus, it fits well into the community of aquarium animals. Its main purpose is to clean the aquarium from waste and excrement. The authors write in their documentation: „It is recommended to equip a thin, stretchable, and robust ultimate sensor to either detecting the waste or reconfiguring the moving body shapes and tasks of Rish.“ Two books by Oliver Bendel on social robots – „300 Keywords Soziale Robotik“ and „Soziale Roboter“ – will be published in October 2021.
Fig.: Rish (image: Trần Hoàng Yến Nhi & Hoàng Vũ Thắng, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam)
Simple, soft shapes are everywhere. In our home environment you can find pillows, blankets, balls, bottles, clothes, etc. Robots are often expensive and complex. But couldn’t they be thought of in a completely different way? How could social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis at the School of Business FHNW, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. All are shown on informationsethik.net. The tenth proposal is Sleeping Hugvie (go here to the previous). The normal Hugvie is used to communicate with distant people, giving the feeling of sensing them. You talk to them and hug the robot. In the process, you apparently feel the other person’s heartbeat via the integrated element. The Sleeping Hugvie has a different function. It is supposed to make it easier for babies to fall asleep. Its shape can be adjusted. The integrated element can also simulate the heartbeat – of the mother, for example. Parents can talk to the child or play soothing music (or white noise) via a speaker. A camera for observing the child is optional. Two books by Oliver Bendel on social robots – „300 Keywords Soziale Robotik“ and „Soziale Roboter“ – will be published in October 2021.
Fig.: Sleeping Hugvie (image: Trần Hoàng Yến Nhi & Hoàng Vũ Thắng, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam)
How do social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis at the School of Business FHNW, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. All are shown on informationsethik.net. The eighth proposal is PBotvac (go here to the previous). In the near future, two or three service robots will be found in many households. Children should understand from the beginning what the possibilities and limitations are. It may help them to have a toy that provides basic functions, but is very simple and harmless – and cheap. One such toy is PBotvac. It is essentially made of cardboard. With it, children learn the purpose of a robot vacuum cleaner and to handle it in an appropriate manner. Two books by Oliver Bendel on social robots – „300 Keywords Soziale Robotik“ and „Soziale Roboter“ – will be published in October 2021.
Fig.: PBotvac (image: Trần Hoàng Yến Nhi & Hoàng Vũ Thắng, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam)
How do social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis at the School of Business FHNW, Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. All are shown on informationsethik.net. The second proposal is a kind of clock (go here to the previous), which is placed around the neck of a bottle (at least a PET bottle would be a simple, soft form). Botbot, as it is called (from „bottle“ and „robot“), reminds the user to drink something. The robot can determine how much is left in the bottle and how much one has already drunk. Botbot can output text and has simple miming capabilities. On the one hand, one can be bothered by the pedagogical function. On the other hand, this function could prove to be really useful. The fact is that many people drink too little and get sick as a result. Two books by Oliver Bendel on social robots – „300 Keywords Soziale Robotik“ and „Soziale Roboter“ – will be published in October 2021.
Fig.: Botbot (image: Trần Hoàng Yến Nhi & Hoàng Vũ Thắng, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Việt Nam)
Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel, Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves wrote her master thesis „Manipulation by humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots from an ethical perspective“ at the School of Business FHNW. The background was that social robots and service robots like Pepper and Paul have been doing their job in retail for years. In principle, they can use the same sales techniques – including those of a manipulative nature – as salespeople. The young scientist submitted her comprehensive study in June 2021. According to the abstract, the main research question (RQ) is „to determine whether it is ethical to intentionally program humanoid consulting and sales hardware robots with manipulation techniques to influence the customer’s purchase decision in retail stores“ (Alves 2021). To answer this central question, five sub-questions (SQ) were defined and answered based on an extensive literature review and a survey conducted with potential customers of all ages: „SQ1: How can humanoid consulting and selling robots manipulate customers in the retail store? SQ2: Have ethical guidelines and policies, to which developers and users must adhere, been established already to prevent the manipulation of customers‘ purchasing decisions by humanoid robots in the retail sector? SQ3: Have ethical guidelines and policies already been established regarding who must perform the final inspection of the humanoid robot before it is put into operation? SQ4: How do potential retail customers react, think and feel when being confronted with a manipulative humanoid consultant and sales robot in a retail store? SQ5: Do potential customers accept a manipulative and humanoid consultant and sales robot in the retail store?“ (Alves 2021) To be able to answer the main research question (RQ), the sub-questions SQ1 – SQ5 were worked through step by step. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion „that it is neither ethical for software developers to program robots with manipulative content nor is it ethical for companies to actively use these kinds of robots in retail stores to systematically and extensively manipulate customers‘ negatively in order to obtain an advantage“. „Business is about reciprocity, and it is not acceptable to systematically deceive, exploit and manipulate customers to attain any kind of benefit.“ (Alves 2021) The book „Soziale Roboter“ – which will be published in September or October 2021 – contains an article on social robots in retail by Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. In it, he also mentions the study by Liliana Margarida Dos Santos Alves.
