Socially Impaired Robots: Human Social Disorders and Robots' Socio-Emotional Intelligence

TL;DR

This paper surveys human social disorders to inform the development of socially and emotionally intelligent robots, emphasizing the need for socio-emotional intelligence to ensure safe and effective human-robot interactions.

Contribution

It links human social disorders to the design requirements of future socio-emotional robots, proposing a simulation-driven model for their development.

Findings

Social robots need socio-emotional intelligence for safe interaction.

Understanding human disorders informs robot social capabilities.

Guidelines for designing future socio-emotional robots.

Abstract

Social robots need intelligence in order to safely coexist and interact with humans. Robots without functional abilities in understanding others and unable to empathise might be a societal risk and they may lead to a society of socially impaired robots. In this work we provide a survey of three relevant human social disorders, namely autism, psychopathy and schizophrenia, as a means to gain a better understanding of social robots' future capability requirements. We provide evidence supporting the idea that social robots will require a combination of emotional intelligence and social intelligence, namely socio-emotional intelligence. We argue that a robot with a simple socio-emotional process requires a simulation-driven model of intelligence. Finally, we provide some critical guidelines for designing future socio-emotional robots.