{
  "id": 2008953,
  "title": "Interacting with AI can make people act more like robots",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/interacting-with-ai-can-make-people-act-more-like-robots",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-19T19:40:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-08-interacting-ai-people-robots.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As artificial intelligence continues to advance, social robots powered by AI are increasingly prevalent in customer service environments like retail, hospitality, tourism and healthcare. However, the impact of interacting with these increasingly human-like robots on consumers is an area that has not received much attention.\n\nA recent study from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Aarhus University in Denmark, and Linnaeus University in Sweden has found that engaging with robots that exhibit human-like qualities - such as adaptive learning, personalized communication and empathetic engagement - can have significant effects on the consumer's self-perception. The research, published in the journal AI & Society, presents a framework for understanding the bidirectional influence between humans and anthropomorphized robots.\n\nThe framework considers factors such as the service setting, consumer expectations, the robot's appearance and speech, and crucially, the actions of both the consumer and the robot. Customer service robots use AI and learning models to mimic human behavior, aiming to build trust and foster engagement. As people interact with these robots, they unconsciously mirror the robot's behaviors and expressions, a phenomenon known as mirroring. Over time, machine learning and AI can further personalize this mimicry based on user input, making the robot's behavior even more human-like.\n\nThis mirroring process can shape the consumer's identity through a feedback loop, where repeated interactions can reinforce, alter or even destabilize their self-perception. Factors such as technological readiness, cultural background and personality traits can influence the extent to which this happens. While positive reinforcement from repeated interactions can boost confidence, negative cues could lower self-esteem.\n\nThe study raises ethical concerns about the potential for this mirroring and mirroring feedback loop to create a \"robotoid humanness,\" blurring the line between human and machine. It also highlights the importance of considering the cognitive and ethical consequences of shaping consumer self-perception, especially when there is a risk of people depending on robots for validation of their self-worth.",
  "summary": "As AI continues to develop at a rapid pace, social robots powered by AI are becoming more commonplace in customer service settings such as retail, hospitality, tourism and health care. But as these robots become smarter and appear more human, little attention has been given to how this might affect the consumers interacting with them.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}