Risk-Taking Behavior in Human-Robot Teams: Collaboration vs. Competition

What is it about?

When we work alongside robots, does it matter whether we are working with them or against them? In this study, we had participants play a risk-taking game either as teammates with a NAO robot or as opponents against it. In the game, players pump a virtual balloon to earn points, but risk losing everything if it bursts. We found that interacting with the robot increased risk-taking compared to playing alone, but in very different ways. Competitors became more strategic: they pumped more, burst the balloon less often, and scored higher. Collaborators took more risks too, but without the performance gains: they played more freely and exploratorily. Interestingly, these patterns diverge from human-human research, where competition decreased risk-taking. The key takeaway: it is not just the presence of a robot that shapes how we make decisions, but the type of social interaction we have with it.

Featured Image

Photo by Erhan Astam on Unsplash

Photo by Erhan Astam on Unsplash