How Rude Humanoid Robots Can Mess With Your Head

The little humanoid robot's name is Meccanoid, and it is a scoundrel. The well-meaning human test subject asks the robot: If you were to make a friend, what would you want them to know? "That I'm bored," Meccanoid says. A new participant asks Meccanoid the same question, but now the robot is programmed to be nice. What does this robot want the friend to know? "I already like him a lot," Meccanoid says. Researchers in France have been exposing human subjects to nasty and pleasant humanoids for good reason: They're conducting research into how a robot's attitude affects a human's ability to do a task. On Wednesday, they published their research in the journal Science Robotics, an issue that also includes research on how robots can pressure children into making certain decisions.