The robots that share our public areas right now are so demure. Social robots and service robots goal to keep away from offense, erring towards well mannered airs, constructive feelings, and obedience. In some methods, this is sensible—would you actually wish to have a yelling match with a delivery robot in a lodge? In all probability not, even in case you’re in New York City and attempting to soak up the native tradition.
In different methods, this passive social robot design aligns with paternalistic requirements that hyperlink help to subservience. Thoughtlessly following such outdated social norms in robotic design could also be ill-advised, because it can help to reinforce outdated or harmful ideas resembling limiting folks’s rights and reflecting solely the wants of majority-identity customers.
In my robotics lab at Oregon State University, we work with a playful spirit and revel in difficult the problematic norms which can be entrenched inside “well mannered” interactions and social roles. So we determined to experiment with robots that use foul language round people. In spite of everything, many individuals are utilizing foul language greater than ever in 2025. Why not let robots have an opportunity, too?
Why and Examine Cursing Robots
Societal requirements within the United States counsel that cursing robots would possible rub folks the incorrect approach in most contexts, as swearing has a predominantly adverse connotation. Though some previous analysis exhibits that cursing can enhance team cohesion and elicit humor, sure members of society (resembling girls) are sometimes anticipated to avoid risking offense by way of profanity. We questioned whether or not cursing robots could be considered negatively, or if they could maybe provide advantages in sure conditions.
We determined to check cursing robots within the context of responding to errors. Previous work in human-robot interplay has already proven that responding to error (relatively than ignoring it) can assist robots be perceived extra positively in human-populated areas, particularly within the case of private and repair robots. And one study discovered that in comparison with different fake pas, foul language is extra forgivable in a robotic.
With this previous work in thoughts, we generated movies with three widespread varieties of robotic failure: bumping right into a desk, dropping an object, and failing to know an object. We crossed these conditions with three varieties of responses from the robotic: no verbal response, a non-expletive verbal declaration, and an expletive verbal declaration. We then requested folks to charge the robots on issues like competence, discomfort, and likability, utilizing normal scales in an internet survey.
What Individuals Considered our Cursing Robots
On the entire, we have been shocked by how acceptable swearing appeared to the examine contributors, particularly inside an preliminary group of Oregon State College college students, however even among the many basic public as properly. Cursing had no adverse impression, and even some constructive impacts, among the many faculty college students after we eliminated one religiously-connotated curse (god***it), which appeared to be acquired in a stronger adverse approach than different cuss phrases.
Actually, college contributors rated swearing robots because the most socially close and most humorous, and rated non-expletive and expletive robotic reactions equal on social heat, competence, discomfort, anthropomorphism, and likability scales. Most people judged non-profane and profane robots as equal on most scales, though expletive reactions have been deemed most discomforting and non-expletive responses appeared most likable. We consider that the college college students have been barely extra accepting of cursing robots due to the campus’s progressive tradition, the place cursing is taken into account a peccadillo.
Since experiments run solely in an internet setting don’t all the time characterize actual life interactions properly, we additionally carried out a closing replication examine in particular person with a robotic that made errors whereas distributing goodie luggage to campus neighborhood members at Oregon State, which bolstered our prior outcomes.
We now have submitted this work, which represents a properly designed sequence of empirical experiments with attention-grabbing outcomes and replications alongside the best way, to a number of totally different journals and conferences. Regardless of persistently enthusiastic reviewer feedback, no editors have but accepted our work for publication—it appears to be the kind of paper that editors are nervous to the touch. At the moment, the work is beneath evaluation for a fourth time, for potential inclusion within the 2025 IEEE Worldwide Convention on Robotic and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), in a paper entitled “Oh F**k! How Do People Feel about Robots that Leverage Profanity?”
Give Cursing Robots a Probability
Primarily based on our outcomes, we expect cursing robots deserve an opportunity! Our findings present that swearing robots would usually have little draw back and a few upside, particularly in open-minded areas resembling college campuses. Even for most of the people, reactions to errors with profanity yielded a lot much less distaste than we anticipated. Our information confirmed that individuals cared extra about whether or not robots acknowledged their error in any respect than whether or not or not they swore.
Individuals do have some reservations about cursing robots, particularly relating to consolation and likability, so thoughtfulness could also be required to use curse phrases on the proper time. For instance, simply as people do, robots ought to possible maintain again their swear phrases round kids and be extra cautious in settings that usually demand cleaner language. Robotic practitioners may additionally think about surveying particular person customers about profanity acceptance as they arrange new know-how in private settings—relatively than letting robotic methods study the arduous approach, maybe alienating customers within the course of.
As extra robots enter our day-to-day areas, they’re certain to make errors. How they react to those errors is vital. Essentially, our work exhibits that individuals choose robots that discover when a mistake has occurred and react to this error in a relatable approach. And evidently a variety of types within the response itself, from the profane to the mundane, can work properly. So we invite designers to offer cursing robots an opportunity!
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