Robots and Social Sustainability
Bipin Indurkhya, Barbara Sienkiewicz
TL;DR
Robots can impact social sustainability in six distinct ways: facilitating social inclusion, supporting physical and mental health, serving as companions, acting as mediators, educating about sustainability, and nudging sustainable behavior. By surveying work across autism support, elder care, companionship, mediation, sustainability education, and behavior nudges, the paper delineates these mechanisms and provides concrete examples (e.g., Probo, Pathfinder, Paro, Woebot, Replika) along with ethical considerations such as deception, addiction, autonomy, and manipulation. The analysis highlights opportunities to extend social capital and well-being while documenting risks of alienation and misuse. These insights aim to guide design, policy, and evaluation to maximize social benefits of robotics while mitigating harms.
Abstract
Sustainability is no longer a matter of choice but is invariably linked to the survival of the entire ecosystem of our planet Earth. As robotics technology is growing at an exponential rate, it is crucial to examine its implications for sustainability. Our focus is on social sustainability, specifically analyzing the role of robotics technology in this domain by identifying six distinct ways robots influence social sustainability.