Article

Hardware companions?: what online AIBO discussion forums reveal about the human-robotic relationship

Authors:

Batya Friedman,

Peter H. Kahn, Jr.,

Jennifer HagmanAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '03: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 273 - 280

https://doi.org/10.1145/642611.642660

Published: 05 April 2003 Publication History

Abstract

In this study, we investigated people's relationships with AIBO, a robotic pet, through 6,438 spontaneous postings in online AIBO discussion forums. Results showed that AIBO psychologically engaged this group of participants, particularly by drawing forth conceptions of technological essences (75%), life-like essences (49%), mental states (60%), and social rapport (59%). However, participants seldom attributed moral standing to AIBO (e.g., that AIBO deserves respect, has rights, or can be held morally accountable for action). Our discussion focuses on how robotic pets (now and in the future) may (a) challenge traditional boundaries (e.g. between who or what can possess feelings), (b) extend our conceptions of self, companionship, and community, and (c) begin to replace interactions with live pets. We also discuss a concern that people in general, and children in particular, may fall prey to accepting robotic pets without the moral responsibilities (and moral developmental outcomes) that real, reciprocal companionship and cooperation involves. This research contributes to a growing literature on the human-robotic relationship.

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '03: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2003

620 pages

ISBN:1581136307

DOI:10.1145/642611

Conference Chairs:
Gilbert Cockton
University of Sunderland, UK
,
Panu Korhonen
Nokia Research Center, Finland

Copyright © 2003 ACM.

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Published: 05 April 2003

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April 5 - 10, 2003

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CHI '03 Paper Acceptance Rate 75 of 468 submissions, 16%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105945
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-023-01077-y
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Aguado ERossi CGil P(2023)Codifying Wildness: Wild Behaviour for Improving Human-Robot InteractionInternational Journal of Social Robotics10.1007/s12369-023-00986-215:5(825-834)Online publication date: 11-May-2023
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