Social robots are the future in robotics. It will exist lot of corporates who will like to sell social robots and it will be lot of consumers who are alone and need someone to talk. The act of replacing a human friendship by a robot is closer than ever. It's really impressive and sometimes shocking seeing a robot interacting with a human. Nevertheless, it will exist many buyers who are willing to purchase one.
It's amazing how a human responds well to a person face, even if that face is made of some kind of fabric. We're really similar to any other animal. If we see a face, we interact it well and it doesn't matter if it's human or not. It's just like a parakeet that looks to a mirror. For him, the reflection that he sees, is just another animal and not himself.
In a video that I saw on the web, a MIT professor shows a student interacting with a robot, called Kismet. The student was teaching the robot that Big Bird and Cookie Monster (characters from the Sesame Street) are good or bad characters.
In the first experience, the student shows a plush Big Bird, saying that the plush is a friend. After that, he says to the robot to grab the object. The robot, delightfully, grab it.
In the second experience, the student teaches the robot, saying that the Cookie Monster is bad. Then, he orders the robot to grab it and force it. The robot pop its eyes, roll its head to the back and silently shows repudiation to the object.
It's really outstanding seeing an robot interact, but two things shocked me. Firstly, it doesn't affect me talking to a robot. For this simple reason, this is amazing. I reflected myself in the student position, and I would do the same thing. Nowadays, I talk to my dog. I know that he doesn't understand each word what I'm saying, but the fact of knowing that someone is listen, it's wonderful and comfortable. Secondly, teaching a robot that the Cookie Monster is bad, this principle goes against my values, it's difficult to watch. For me, Cookie Monster is a funny character and not a bad animal. For this reason, seeing someone teaching a wrong thing, it shocked me. With these robots, it's possible to teach wrong values, and they will act without weighing the act. It's just like teaching a rottweiler that attacking a person is good thing. We know that it's wrong and immoral, but the robot will ever notice?
Just for curiosity, a robot is accepted if it's a social robot if it is autonomous in thinking and passes the Touring Test and respect Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. It's really the big deal.
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