‘Creepy’ human-like robot can hold eye contact as it TRICKS people into believing it can think for itself

A FUNKY little robot has tricked human observers into believing the bot has wants and desires.

iCub is a humanoid robot that stands just a few feet tall but can switch on an enormous personality.

iCub first made headlines when the bot wowed viewers on Italy’s Got Talent with a Tai Chi routine.

Though iCub has an impressive catalog of physical movements, it’s how people react to the bot’s personality that shocks researchers.

Roboticists in Italy used iCub to test the robot’s potential for companionship with humans.

They set iCub to two different modes: one with human niceties like greetings or shared giggles and another with cold, unfeeling robotic tendencies.

Human test participants would enter small cubicle with iCub.

Depending on which mode the bot was set to, iCub could be extremely warm and almost child-like or iCub could be an iPad with wheels.

Before and after watching a few short videos of animals, the researchers would probe the 41 human participants for their opinion on iCub’s state of consciousness with a short test.

Researchers phrased their questions and answers so that participants could state whether they thought iCub acted on a whim or as directed.

When iCub was programmed to engage with human behaviors, participants would choose to describe the bot with active verbs that hint at a sense of intention.

Those who saw the cheery iCub would say the bot performs an action “because it wants to do so,” on the study‘s evaluation test.

Many participants who saw the fluffy side of iCub changed their position after the experience.

In the language of the study, human observers reversed their position from “mechanical” language to “intentional” language.

LiveScience reported that the most critical takeaway is humans’ willingness to bond with a robot that does not look human.

iCub’s cameras-for-eyes are not exactly soothing but its personality made up for it.

The opportunities for robots to become companions are boundless from retirement homes to schools and beyond.