Submitted via IRC for Fnord666
[...] 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, @04:05AM
In social "science", everything is always exciting/surprising and expected all along:
http://andrewgelman.com/2014/08/01/scientific-surprise-two-step/ [andrewgelman.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday August 17 2018, @04:57AM
"I'd like something fattening."
"You're in the right place for that!"
I studied the menu for a bit, then:
"We have a special today: two Big Macs for five dollars."
"I'll get that."
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @05:26AM (4 children)
Commander Data raped Tasha while she was under the influence!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @05:28AM
And he was her superior! That's even worse!
And people thought Lore was the bad guy...
(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.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday August 17 2018, @08:24AM (3 children)
it was performed in UK, Germany and Italy, but Italian kids dismantled the robots to sell them for parts.
smart meabags, it's a pity we'll have to... ahem.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Friday August 17 2018, @09:07AM (2 children)
...drop bridges on them?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Touché) by Bot on Friday August 17 2018, @09:55AM
How did you hear about my pal robotic excavator's mission against that pylon? he had covered his track beautifully.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday August 17 2018, @12:56PM
Where's the "OH, BOOOYAH!" mod.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @09:45AM (1 child)
Isn't that a kind of cheese?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Bot on Friday August 17 2018, @09:58AM
belpaese would be the cheese, this is a belgian surname.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @11:15AM (1 child)
I guess it depends how you look at it. Maybe children look at robots as "cool, smart things that try to help us" while adults view them as "stupid things made by virgin nerds trying to tell me how to live my life". Peer pressure only works if you look up to something, not if you look down on something.
Adults will tend to look at robots as slaves, subservient to them. Look at the world when slavery was more common - did slave owners feel peer pressure from their slaves or from other slave owners? It's called *PEER PRESSURE* for a reason. You need to identify with something as a *peer* in the first place.
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Friday August 17 2018, @03:31PM
Yeah, adults only do what they are told without questioning when instructed by a commercial or news program.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @07:23PM
I wonder what kind of voices these robots had? Adult voices? Children's voices? Male or female? Gentle or harsh? I think these factors could make a big difference in how people percieve the robot.