People Prefer Interacting with Female Robots at Hotels

It turns out people are more comfortable talking to female robots rather than male robots working in service roles at hotels. Washington State University researchers explain, “People have a tendency to feel more comfort in being cared for by females because of existing gender stereotyping about service roles. That gender stereotype appears to transfer to robot interactions, and it is more amplified when the robots are more human life.” Ultimately, participants who were presented with the female robot scenarios rated the experience as more pleasant and satisfying than those who had scenarios with male robots, and the preference for the female robot was even more pronounced when the robots were described as looking more human. The scientists are now in the process of investigating how the personality of AI robots may impact customers’ perceptions, such as if they are extroverted and talkative or introverted and quiet.