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A new study by a team of Japanese researchers shows that, in certain situations, children may not be as empathetic towards robots as previously thought. In one of their experiments, the researchers patrolled a public shopping complex in Osaka with a remotely operated robot called Robovie. What they found over the course of the study surprised them: children were sometimes all too eager to give the robot a hard time, intentionally blocking its path, and their behavior often escalated, with kids punching and kicking the robot. The goal of the project is devising strategies to help a robot like Robovie avoid abusive situations, but the researchers also want to understand a more fundamental question: Why do some children act aggressively toward robots? |
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