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[...] In a study published today in the journal Science Robotics, researchers from Germany and the UK demonstrated that children are susceptible to peer pressure from robots. The findings, say the researchers, show that, as robots and AIs become integrated into social spaces, we need to be careful about the influence they wield, especially on the young.
The paper's authors ask, "For example, if robots recommend products, services, or preferences, will compliance [...] be higher than with more traditional advertising methods?" They note that robots are being introduced to plenty of other domains where social influence could be important, including health care, education, and security.
[...] Although it's the susceptibility of the children that leaps out in this experiment, the fact that the adults were not swayed by the bots is also significant. That's because it goes against an established theory in sociology known as "computer are social actors," or CASA. This theory, which was first outlined in a 1996 book, states that humans tend to interact with computers as if they were fellow humans. The results of this study show that there are limits to this theory, although Belpaeme says he and his colleagues were not surprised by this.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/15/17688120/social-influence-robots-ai-peer-pressure-children
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @06:32AM (2 children)
Actually, the opposite may be more realistic. In that episode, Data's brain was also affected (under influence) and the aggressor was Tasha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Now [wikipedia.org]
Anyway, the writers made a mistake with that episode. But nowhere near the disasters we see on screen today.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @06:35AM
Yeah, I know. Both my AC comments were in jest.
But still, what a dumb episode, for many reasons.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @09:29AM
It takes free will and agency to commit crime and Data had neither during that part of the series. Later he'd get free-will through a hardware upgrade and by the end of the series he'd be legally recognized as a person... But at that point in time him raping makes as much sense as a hammer assaulting or a computer virus stealing.
As for Tasha, just because you slipped and fell on a dildo in the shower doesn't mean you got raped by the soap company. She understood this. Odd so few viewer do.