Robots and the people who love them Holding on to our humanity in an age of social robots

Review by Choice Review

Herold, a professional writer specializing in social and ethical issues surrounding science and medicine, presents an approachable, research-based commentary on social robots (including non-embodied AI). Designed to live and work side-by-side with humans, social robots teach, provide entertainment and psychological therapy, and care for children, the elderly, and the disabled. Crucially, they also offer companionship. In individual chapters devoted to these roles, Herold describes state-of-the-art technology and discusses research documenting human-robot interactions and humans' tendency to anthropomorphize the machines. Whereas a child's attachment to a robot nanny doesn't surprise, even soldiers treat military robots as valued members of their unit. Throughout the book, Herold strives for a balanced assessment of robots' potential impact on individuals and society. Yet, she repeatedly expresses concern that humans who are more accustomed to--or more comfortable with--human-robot relationships will lack the competence to navigate human-human relationships, which because of their dynamic complexity, require attentive engagement and a range of social and emotional skills. In the face of rapid technological development, humans need to decide how to design, train, and use the robots that are becoming integral to their daily lives. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through graduate students; two-year technical program students. --Melody Herr, University of Arkansas

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This captivating report from science writer Herold (Beyond Human) examines the rise of robot "nannies, friends, therapists, caregivers, and lovers" that promise "to cater to our needs in ways that no human ever could." Highlighting cutting-edge androids already on the market, Herold notes that the three-foot-tall Pepper, created by the French robotics company Aldebaran to provide companionship, can read and respond to human expressions ("he" might play a favorite song if he "notices that you look sad"), and iPal, a "child-size humanoid robot" designed by AvatarMind Robot Technology for childcare and entertainment, can dance, play games, "wake your child up in the morning and tell him when it's time to get dressed." Even as Herold cites research showing the benefits of these technologies--for instance, a study found that working with an educational robot improved the communication skills of children with autism--she emphasizes the need for caution, suggesting that the "asymmetrical" nature of human-android bonds, in which "the human partner has all the power and need not consider the needs of another," could set up damaging expectations for what humans expect from their relationships with each other. The fascinating examples demonstrate the impressive abilities of contemporary tech, and Herold's clear-eyed analysis of androids' shortcomings offers a welcome corrective to techno-utopian portents. This is sure to spark conversation. (Jan.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

This book is about socially interactive robots or androids, often human-like in appearance and behavior; via artificial intelligence, they are increasingly able to listen, converse, and learn. Herold (director of public policy research and education, Genetics Policy Inst.; Beyond Human) takes no position on whether robots can eventually attain consciousness. Instead, she focuses on robots that can increasingly do human tasks--teaching, entertaining children, and more--but which have no emotions. Herold points out many ways that present-day social robots (and future version that are further developed) can improve human lives, such as performing tasks for people who are ill, disabled, or in danger, such as soldiers on a battlefield. She also writes that human-computer relationships are one-sided, of course, even as humans often anthropomorphize social robots and sometimes become attached to them. Herold expresses concern that as robots evolve, humans might forget that they're programmed and start seeing them as capable of real relationships. She fears that this could inspire people to prefer undemanding relationships with robots and neglect to commune with other people. VERDICT A good, thought-provoking acquisition about the deep changes that robots could bring to society. For technologically aware patrons.--Shmuel Ben-Gad

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