A Teacher without a Soul? Social-AI, Theory of Mind, and Consciousness of a Robot Tutor

Rinat B. Rosenberg-Kima*, Alfin Thomas

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Is consciousness required for social robots to serve as a tutor? This study explored the effects of a tutor robot’s social-AI on participants’ perception of social robots’ Theory of Mind abilities, perception of social robots’ consciousness, and acceptance of social robots in education. We were also interested in the relationships between these variables. One hundred and twenty participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. The participants completed an online survey that included two short videos of a robot tutor interacting with a student, followed by several questionnaires. We manipulated the robot’s social-AI abilities with respect to two social abilities: emotion Expression and Detection, resulting in a 2 × 2 controlled research design. Participants’ responses to the Social Robots Theory of Mind Assessment Scale revealed that the robot’s social AI behavior had an impact on its perceived ability to detect and influence others’ feelings. Perceptions of social robots’ TOM and consciousness had a significant positive correlation with acceptance of social robots in education.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationArtificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners’ and Doctoral Consortium - 23rd International Conference, AIED 2022, Proceedings
EditorsMaria Mercedes Rodrigo, Noburu Matsuda, Alexandra I. Cristea, Vania Dimitrova
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages240-244
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)9783031116469
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event23rd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2022 - Durham, United Kingdom
Duration: 27 Jul 202231 Jul 2022

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume13356 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference23rd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityDurham
Period27/07/2231/07/22

Keywords

  • Consciousness
  • Social AI
  • Social robots
  • Theory of Mind

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