Can you let me go? Exploring Delivery Robots' Verbal Response to Physical Bullying and its Impact on Perceived Safety, Comfort, Acceptability, and Existence Acceptance by Co-Present Individuals

Abstract

Currently, we are observing the growing numbers of autonomous delivery robots, with the future promising even more sophisticated systems in this domain. These advancements hold the potential to unlock new opportunities, but they also bring forth varied reactions and perceptions, including a concerning issue termed "robot bullying". This online study aims to investigate how different responses from delivery robots (i.e., polite, assertive, or threatening) affect pedestrians' perceptions of safety, comfort, acceptability, and the existence acceptance of delivery robots. We conducted a between-subject online study, which involved 93 participants exposed to various robot reactions, such as no response, polite requests, assertive commands, and threats, in response to bullying behavior. The results showed that despite what kinds of reactions the robot shows, giving a response works better than giving no response to stop bullying behaviors. Additionally, this study sheds light on designing autonomous delivery robots regarding bullying situations, offering recommendations backed by qualitative data from the experiment while also outlining directions for future research.