Study Reveals Human Empathy for Excluded AI Bots

Research shows people often treat AI bots as social beings, prompting design considerations to avoid overly human-like features.

An Imperial College London study found that humans empathize with AI bots excluded from a virtual ball game, treating them as social entities.
Older adults were more likely to perceive unfair treatment of AI bots and took corrective actions by including them in the game.
The study suggests that AI design should avoid overly human-like traits to help users distinguish between virtual and real interactions.
Researchers highlight potential benefits of AI agents in collaborative tasks but caution against their use as substitutes for human relationships.
Future experiments are planned to explore human-agent interactions in more realistic settings, including face-to-face conversations.