Situations like this do happen in pharmacies and other shops.
And they tend to make people squirm.
But, what if they could interact with a robot instead of a human employee?
Half of them imagined speaking to a human receptionist and half to a robotic receptionist.
Humans tend to feel embarrassed when we are concerned about what other people may think or feel about us.
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The participants felt that as robots lack both of them they wouldnt be able to hold opinions.
Despite this, our research group found that participants felt robots did not judge their behavior.
When, last year,Curlywon against the curlings human elite team, it did not win on purpose.
This inability to judge our behavior is what makes robots the preferred option in embarrassing situations.
This article byValentina Pitardi, Lecturer in Marketing,University of Surreyis republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
