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Concerns and Values in Human-Robot Interactions: A Focus on Social Robotics

Giulio Antonio Abbo, Tony Belpaeme, Micol Spitale

TL;DR

This study addresses the challenge of incorporating interaction-driven ethical concerns in social robotics by (1) conducting a scoping review to identify how values emerge in HRI within healthcare, education, and home settings; (2) validating and refining a comprehensive list of topics and values through expert focus groups; and (3) designing and piloting the HRI Value Compass, a web tool that guides researchers in eliciting and integrating these values into robot design. The phased methodology reveals a broad set of interrelated values (e.g., agency, connectedness, privacy, autonomy, equity, dignity, virtue, welfare) and their context-dependent topics, culminating in a practical instrument tested with HRI researchers. Results demonstrate the tool’s potential to support value-aware design, while identifying usability and training needs for broader adoption. The work contributes both a synthesized map of interaction-driven values and a domain-specific framework to translate ethical considerations into concrete design guidance for social robots.

Abstract

Robots, as AI with physical instantiation, inhabit our social and physical world, where their actions have both social and physical consequences, posing challenges for researchers when designing social robots. This study starts with a scoping review to identify discussions and potential concerns arising from interactions with robotic systems in the context of healthcare, education, and private homes. Two focus groups of technology ethics experts then validated a comprehensive list of key topics and values in human-robot interaction (HRI) literature in these contexts. These insights were integrated into the HRI Value Compass web tool, to help HRI researchers identify these values in robot design. The tool was evaluated in a pilot study. This work benefits the HRI community by highlighting key concerns in human-robot interactions and providing an instrument to help researchers design robots that align with human values, ensuring future robotic systems adhere to these values in social applications.

Concerns and Values in Human-Robot Interactions: A Focus on Social Robotics

TL;DR

This study addresses the challenge of incorporating interaction-driven ethical concerns in social robotics by (1) conducting a scoping review to identify how values emerge in HRI within healthcare, education, and home settings; (2) validating and refining a comprehensive list of topics and values through expert focus groups; and (3) designing and piloting the HRI Value Compass, a web tool that guides researchers in eliciting and integrating these values into robot design. The phased methodology reveals a broad set of interrelated values (e.g., agency, connectedness, privacy, autonomy, equity, dignity, virtue, welfare) and their context-dependent topics, culminating in a practical instrument tested with HRI researchers. Results demonstrate the tool’s potential to support value-aware design, while identifying usability and training needs for broader adoption. The work contributes both a synthesized map of interaction-driven values and a domain-specific framework to translate ethical considerations into concrete design guidance for social robots.

Abstract

Robots, as AI with physical instantiation, inhabit our social and physical world, where their actions have both social and physical consequences, posing challenges for researchers when designing social robots. This study starts with a scoping review to identify discussions and potential concerns arising from interactions with robotic systems in the context of healthcare, education, and private homes. Two focus groups of technology ethics experts then validated a comprehensive list of key topics and values in human-robot interaction (HRI) literature in these contexts. These insights were integrated into the HRI Value Compass web tool, to help HRI researchers identify these values in robot design. The tool was evaluated in a pilot study. This work benefits the HRI community by highlighting key concerns in human-robot interactions and providing an instrument to help researchers design robots that align with human values, ensuring future robotic systems adhere to these values in social applications.
Paper Structure (78 sections, 10 figures, 6 tables)

This paper contains 78 sections, 10 figures, 6 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Values
  4. Stakeholder perspectives
  5. Phase 1: Scoping Review
  6. PRISMA process
  7. Search query
  8. Exclusion criteria
  9. Selection process
  10. Data extraction and analysis
  11. Results: value-related HRI papers
  12. Application topics
  13. Cultural background
  14. Transcripts
  15. Preliminary discussion and limitations
  16. ...and 63 more sections

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: The research questions (left), the design process (centre), and the contributions (right).
  • Figure 2: PRISMA framework flow diagram for the scoping review.
  • Figure 3: On the left: distribution of the publication years of the selected papers; on the right: occurrences of each application topic in the selected publications.
  • Figure 4: Miro board screenshot of activity 3 in which participants were asked to discuss the relationships between contextual information and values at play.
  • Figure 5: Final topics and values, with positive and negative valences.
  • ...and 5 more figures