Study shows how people can become quickly convinced that human-like robots can think independently

People quickly become convinced that a human-like robot is capable of independent thoughts and emotions, a new study has found. This occurs when a robot appears to act on its own beliefs and desires, rather than on what it is programmed to do. Researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology probed the response of study participants to an anthropomorphic robot called iCub. The participants completed a questionnaire before and after interacting with iCub, that was programmed to act either like a robot or in a more friendly manner. It was found that those exposed to the robot programmed to act more like a human were more likely to rate the robot's actions as intentional.