Authors

• Oksanen, Atte (Tampere University. Faculty of Social Sciences)
• Savela, Nina (Tampere University. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Keywords

artificial intelligence, attitudes, computers, cooperation, group behaviour, intergroup relations, occupational life, workplace relations

Abstract

The survey charted the opinions and attitudes of US citizens towards robots and how interaction changes when a human is replaced by a robot. The data was collected as part of the Robots in Society research project. The project explores interaction processes and societal understanding of human-robot encounters.

First, respondents were asked about their background and personality traits. In the next section, respondents were randomly divided into six different experimental groups. In the trust test, respondents were asked to participate in a fictional game situation with a stranger, a robot or an AI. In addition to the previous information, the name of the opponent was varied. Respondents were then asked to describe the logic of the game and then asked to write the amount of money they had chosen in the open field.

In the second experiment, respondents were randomly divided into three different groups. The respondents were asked to imagine themselves in a hypothetical work situation. The experiment varied the composition of the work team by including one or more robots in the imaginary situation or by describing a work team consisting solely of humans. Respondents were then asked how they identified with this work team. Respondents were then asked to write a short imaginary text about their first day in this new job with the team in question.

After the two experiments, respondents were asked about their previous experiences with robots, as well as their attitudes and self-confidence towards technology and robots. Attitudes towards interacting with robots were explored through an experimental set-up in which the degree of autonomy of the robot (fully remote, partially autonomous or fully autonomous) was varied in the framing of the questions.

The following scales or measures, which also appear as abbreviations in the variable names, have been used in the data: BF = A short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-S) of personality dimensions (personality traits neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness), IGI = In-Group Identification: self-definition and self-investment and self-investment and RS = Robot-Use Self-Efficacy RUSH-3. In addition, the employment industries are formed according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC 2008).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, area of residence, type of residence, highest level of education, houdehold's gross annual income, economic activity and industry of employment.