Robots can trick humans to loving them. This is what  Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) researchers discovered recently according to The New York Times. Given the proper stimulus and behavior, humans are able to form relationships with just about anything. As the employment and development of machines to become better caretakers, emergency responders, and house help escalates the blurring of lines between tools and beings becomes prominent.

University of Calgary computer scientist Ehud Sharlin remarked, “Our entire civilization is based on empathy. Societies are built on the principle that other entities have emotions.”

It’s not as if robots are seducing people or using some hypnotic methods. Human beings also have the natural tendency to interact with anything that shows emotions or just practically move. Animation is a great example. Who didn’t cry when Andy bid farewell to Woody (the cowboy toy) in the last installment of Toy Story? Why the yellow minions with a language of their own suddenly becomes a hit? At the end of the day, it’s all about how things move.

As a great contributor, scientists are leaning towards creating more humanoids – robots that look, think and move like humans. A socially expressive robot named Simon was developed by Georgia Institute of Technology. It can clean workspaces and interact with human in ways that can feel emotionally authentic. Child-like responses are seen with iClub. Its eyes swivel and mouth glows in excitement everytime it plays a game.

Before you know it, curiosity turns into science. The initiative to understand the human-robot relationship gave birth to “Lovotics”.

Lovotics

Love + robotics = Lovotics

Whoever thought of coining this and turning it into a discipline of artificial intelligence is a visionary. Lovotics digs deeper into fusing fundamental concepts of AI, psychology, social science, biology and computer engineering.

Earlier this year, Kissinger was born. An application of Lovotics, it consists of a pair of robots transferring kiss over distance. The target market here is obvious – long distance relationships that are no longer happy with “Skpe-ing”. The rationale is to have an intimate human tele-presence with real words making kissing communication possible.

If you think that this is weird, wait until you hear about the wearable hug-reproducing jacket. Another offspring of Lovotics, XOXO facilitates production of affective response similar to humans. So, when you need a hug from a loved one thousand miles away, there’s a robot that can potentially wipe away the yearning. That is quite cheesy.

Military-Robot Relationship

The use of robot to disable bombs, defuse land mines, search and rescue and reconnaissance has been a practice to save human soldiers’ lives for extremely critical and dangerous missions. But, these tools and avatars have become colleagues for most military men.

Researcher Julie Carpenter was able to discover the emotional bond that gets in the way. Soldiers develop strong affinity to mechanized helpers over time, to the point of experiencing frustration and grief whenever a robot passes away in the battlefield.

“They were very clear it was a tool, but at the same time, patterns in their responses indicated they sometimes interacted with the robots in ways similar to a human or pet. They would say they were angry when a robot became disabled because it is an important tool, but then they would add ‘poor little guy’, or they’d say they had a funeral for it.”

But, this new kind of friendship has its repercussions. In a warzone, it can be extremely hazardous. Most robots are meant to be slaughtered, one way or another. If a soldier feels attached and could not easily let it go, hesitation sits in. Decision-making is greatly affected. If you have a bunch of terrorists with high-powered ammunitions, a nip of second thought could mean everything.

Human and machines (or robots) are inseparable. It’s hard to imagine that time when a man or a woman falls madly in love with a robot. But, is it impossible? We’ll have to wait and see (or feel).