Socially competent robots: adaptation improves leadership performance in groups of live fish
Tim Landgraf, Hauke J. Moenck, Gregor H.W. Gebhardt, Nils Weimar,, Mathis Hocke, Moritz Maxeiner, Lea Musiolek, Jens Krause, David Bierbach

TL;DR
This study demonstrates that adaptive, socially responsive robots can enhance leadership in fish groups by responding to avoidance behaviors, leading to more effective and attractive leadership dynamics.
Contribution
It introduces a novel adaptive robotic model that responds to social cues, improving leadership performance in live fish groups compared to non-competent controls.
Findings
Socially competent robots elicit longer following behavior.
Behavioral variability attracts fish and enhances leadership.
Fewer approach attempts are needed by competent robots.
Abstract
Collective motion is commonly modeled with simple interaction rules between agents. Yet in nature, numerous observables vary within and between individuals and it remains largely unknown how animals respond to this variability, and how much of it may be the result of social responses. Here, we hypothesize that Guppies (\textit{Poecilia reticulata}) respond to avoidance behaviors of their shoal mates and that "socially competent" responses allow them to be more effective leaders. We test this hypothesis in an experimental setting in which a robotic Guppy, called RoboFish, is programmed to adapt to avoidance reactions of its live interaction partner. We compare the leadership performance between socially competent robots and two non-competent control behaviors and find that 1) behavioral variability itself appears attractive and that socially competent robots are better leaders that 2)…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsAnimal Behavior and Reproduction · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Marine animal studies overview
