Fascinating article which falls firmly into, "well that's obvious, hang on why didn't I realise this before ?" category. With profound consequences for everyone.
People are more open with automated tools because they believe computers don’t judge and that they’re more ethical, studies show. “People who talk to a virtual agent know their data is anonymous and safe and that no one is going to judge them.”
Intensions Consulting found that 26% of Canadian adults believed an unbiased computer program would be more trustworthy and ethical than their workplace leaders and mangers. The study also found that 26% of Canadians would rather be screened, hired and have their job performance assessed by an unbiased computer program.
Nick Badminton, a futurist and a co-author of the study, said in a release that “people are losing faith in human management, and rightly so. Who would you trust, a human with personal biases and opinions or a rational and balanced (artificial intelligence)?”
It’s important to keep in mind that robots are still machines and they can be manipulated by the end user. Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, Georgia ran a study where he simulated a fire in a building and asked people to follow a robot to safety. The robot, though, took them into wrong rooms, to a back door instead of the correct door, and (by design) it broke down in the middle of the emergency exit. Yet, through all of that, people still followed the robot around the building hoping it would lead them outside. This study proved to Wagner that people have an “automation bias”, or a tendency to believe an automated system even when they shouldn’t.
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160412-truth-be-told-were-more-honest-with-robots
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