Study Finds It’s Harder To Shutdown a Robot If It Starts Begging

Robots Are Harder To Turn Off If They Beg You Not To

Many major technology figures are fairly convinced that one day, the robots are going to rise up and wipe us humans off the planet. At the moment, we might have the upper hand, but a study has found that the robots can employ an edge to staying alive.

In a report via The Verge, a study has found that if a robot begs you not to turn it off, you’re far more likely to keep it ‘alive’.

Please Don’t Turn Me Off…

In a study conducted in Germany, 89 volunteers were asked to interact with the Nao robot (pictures below). The study found that the robot was rather effective in gaining a strong human interaction. The volunteers were asked to participate in several tests with the robot over a period of time in which the robot and human would interact with one another. The final part of the test though was to get the user to shut the robot down. The only catch was that Nao would start begging you to leave it turned on.

43 of the test subjects were surprised when Nao shouted “No! Please do not switch me off!” when given the task. Of these, 13 outright refused to deactivate him. The remaining 30 took twice as long to make the decision than those who were prompted to without the begging in place. It, therefore, rather worryingly indicates that we can create an emphatic relationship with a robot.

This Is The Way The World Ends – Not With A Bang But A Whimper

The study is certainly fascinating in the way we can interact with robots. With more companies adopting these for receptionists or cleaners, it seems that while we have the emotion to connect with them, they don’t get have it to connect with us!

While we can seemingly be made to sympathise with a robot, don’t expect them to show us the same mercy!

What do you think? Surprised at the results of the study? Do you think we can really connect emotionally with a robot? – Let us know in the comments!