The media equation: how people treat computers, television, and new media like real people and places
ELIZA—a computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine
Communications of the ACM
Sociable machines: expressive social exchange between humans and robots
Sociable machines: expressive social exchange between humans and robots
Granny and the robots: ethical issues in robot care for the elderly
Ethics and Information Technology
Ethics and Information Technology
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Robotics with AI is part of a long tradition that has run from ancient times that treated the precursors of robots, the automata, as part of Natural Magic or conjury. Deception is an integral part of AI and robotics; in some ways they form a science of illusion. There are many robot tasks, such as caring for the elderly, minding children, doing domestic chores and being companionable, that involve working closely with humans and so require some illusion of animacy and thought. We discuss how the natural magic of robotics is assisted by the cultural myth of AI together with innate human predispositions such as zoomorphism, the willing suspension of disbelief and a tendency to interpret AI devices as part of the social world. This approach provides a justifiable way of meeting the goals of AI and robotics provided that researchers do not allow themselves to be deceived by their own illusions.