Technical

Srinivasa Reddy Kandi: Are We Ready to Live Amongst Robots?

September, 10, 2025-04:08

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Are We Ready to Live Amongst Robots?

The rise of intelligent AI promises one thing above all: access. Access to goods, services, and information at a scale that could extend benefits to everyone — not just a privileged few.

Victoria Slivkoff, Head of Ecosystem at Walden Catalyst and Managing Director of Extreme Tech Challenge, sees robotics as a major step toward achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“Now we’re moving into the realm of reasoning,” she told founder Boris Veldhuijzen van Zaten in the latest episode of Kia’s Next Big Drive. “AI isn’t just aggregating and organising information anymore — it’s making predictions and drawing conclusions. The big question is: how does that play out in the real world when robots can sense, learn, and interact with their environment?”

When robots enter everyday life:

Soon, it won’t be unusual to share sidewalks, classrooms, and office corridors with robots. But this raises an intriguing question: who needs to adapt more — them, or us?

Take a simple scenario: you’re waiting for the elevator, and a robot wheels up beside you. If there’s space for only one, who should go first? Should the robot “yield” to human expectations, or be treated as an equal participant under a first-come, first-served rule?

Research shows that most people expect service robots to be submissive — even if the robot’s task is more urgent, like delivering hot food or life-saving medical supplies. That expectation slows down efficiency and risks trivialising the robot’s role.

The “robot queue-jumping” dilemma

To explore this, researchers ran a study called A Robot Jumping the Queue: Expectations About Politeness and Power During Conflicts in Everyday Human-Robot Encounters.

They found people responded best to robots that were assertive yet polite — directly requesting priority and then taking it when granted. In other words, confidence coupled with courtesy made robots seem more trustworthy and effective.

But the study also turned the mirror back on us. As robots increasingly carry out tasks with human-like responsibilities, maybe we need to update our own behaviour. Should service robots have a degree of “rights” when acting on our behalf? Could such recognition help reduce the risk of robots being ignored, undermined, or even bullied?

How social robots are reshaping caregiving, education, and beyond:

Social robots — machines built to communicate and interact naturally with humans — are no longer just prototypes in labs. They’re increasingly being deployed in caregiving, education, and mental health, where they help close service gaps, ease loneliness, and provide emotional or learning support.

At Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, researchers are exploring how robots can go beyond simply “filling in” for humans — and instead augment and enrich human-centered work.

In healthcare: Robots could help reduce children’s anxiety before medical procedures or support young patients struggling with emotional regulation by teaching coping strategies.

In education: Robots can serve as classroom assistants, offering tailored learning experiences, especially for students with disabilities or those learning a second language.

At last year’s Lowlands Science Festival, the University showcased WOKEbot, a project investigating how a robot’s appearance and narrative voice (first-person vs. third person) shape human openness in discussing polarising issues.

“Disagreements are timeless. Sometimes people manage to resolve them, but other times they can’t reach each other at all,” explained Dr. Mirjam de Haas. “We saw this during the coronavirus pandemic with debates around vaccination. In moments of polarisation, a neutral moderator can help. Robots offer that neutrality. Where you might hesitate with a human, a robot can encourage more openness and receptivity to other perspectives.”

Dr. Haas’s own PhD research tested how robots could be used to teach Dutch as a second language to students from linguistically diverse backgrounds. Her findings showed real promise: classrooms of the future, filled with students of varied abilities and languages, could benefit from robots that make learning more inclusive and accessible.

As Dr. Haas concluded during her thesis defence: with growing class sizes and diverse needs, robot teaching assistants may soon play a vital role in ensuring every student has the chance to learn and thrive.

Author: Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy Kandi, #KandiSrinivasaReddy, #SrinivasaReddyKandi