Overtrust in the robotic age

As robots complement or replace human efforts with more regularity, people may assume that the technology can be trusted to perform its function effectively and safely. Yet designers, users, and others must evaluate this assumption in a systematic and ongoing manner. Overtrust of robots describes a situation in which a person misunderstands the risk associated with an action because the person either underestimates the loss associated with a trust violation; underestimates the chance the robot will make such a mistake; or both. We deliberately use the term "trust" to convey the notion that when interacting with robots, people tend to exhibit similar behaviors and attitudes found in scenarios involving human-human interactions. Placing one's trust in an "intelligent" technology is a growing phenomenon.