People Prefer Female Robots More

People Find It More Comfortable to Talk with Robots That Look Like Women... Gender Stereotypes Also Apply to Robots

(Photo by Getty Images)

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Jinsoo Lee] As robots are increasingly entering service industries such as hotels and restaurants, people tend to have more favorable impressions of female-type robots.

Subin Seo, Assistant Professor at the School of Hotel Administration, Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, USA, surveyed 170 people about their perceptions of virtual robots in service roles like guest reception. The results were introduced in the February issue of the International Journal of Hospitality Management.

According to the findings, people feel more comfortable interacting with humanoid robots that look female. This suggests that if humans are to be replaced by robots in the service industry in the future, they should be replaced by female robots with a certain degree of personality.

It is common for customers to feel more comfortable when served by women in the service industry. This is due to gender stereotypes in the service sector.

Assistant Professor Seo diagnosed, "It seems that gender stereotypes also apply to robots, and this effect is amplified when robots exhibit human-like traits."

Nowadays, some hotels are entrusting various tasks to robots, including dishwashing, room cleaning, and customer service. According to recent studies, the average price of one robot is less than the monthly salary of a full-time human employee.

A guide robot operating at Prague Airport, Czech Republic, on February 1, 2019 (Photo by Getty Images).

The 170 survey participants were first guided by a male robot named ‘Alex’ and a female robot named ‘Sara.’ Alex and Sara are humanoid robots with human-like bodies and faces. They were then guided by male- and female-type robots equipped with conversational screens instead of faces, which appeared more mechanical.

Assistant Professor Seo asked the participants which robot they liked the most. They responded that they preferred female-type robots over male-type robots. Among them, the robot named Sara received the highest score. The lowest score went to the male-type robot equipped with a conversational screen.

Assistant Professor Seo also asked the participants about situations where robots make mistakes, such as losing luggage or making incorrect reservations. The participants answered that human staff should assist robots and opposed 100% automation of robots.

Assistant Professor Seo is currently investigating how the personality of robots?such as extroverted or introverted robots, talkative robots, or silent robots?affects customer reactions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.