Examining sense of responsibility in an experience of robot avatar embodiment

Would people feel responsible if their avatar acted autonomously to harm someone? We examined sense of responsibility during robot avatar embodiment. In particular, we analyzed what happens when a robot avatar spontaneously verbally abuses someone during a conversation using the participant’s voice, without this being the intention of the participant. We found that participants in an experimental condition in which the robot included offensive words during a conversation with a confederate experienced more guilt and shame and apologized more for the bad actions of the robot than when the words were neutral. The illusion of ownership over the robot body movements did not significantly increase guilt and apologies. The results suggest that people feel responsible for the actions of their robot avatars even if they are not the real agents of these actions. The work highlights the importance of examining the moral and legal aspects related to embodiment technologies.