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

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.