Persson Marcus, Thunman Elin, Iversen Clara, Redmalm David
Institution of Behavioral Sciences and Learning, Department of Education and Sociology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Department of Sociology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Front Sociol. 2024 Apr 8;9:1354978. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1354978. eCollection 2024.
Robot animals, designed to mimic living beings, pose ethical challenges in the context of caring for vulnerable patients, specifically concerning deception. This paper explores how emotions become a resource for dealing with the misinformative nature of robot animals in dementia care homes. Based on observations of encounters between residents, care workers, and robot animals, the study shows how persons with dementia approach the ambiguous robots as either living beings, material artifacts, or something in-between. Grounded in interactionist theory, the research demonstrates that emotions serve as tools in the sense-making process, occurring through interactions with the material object and in collaboration with care workers. The appreciation of social robots does not solely hinge on them being perceived as real or fake animals; persons with dementia may find amusement in "fake" animals and express fear of "real" ones. This observation leads us to argue that there is a gap between guidelines addressing misinformation and robots and the specific context in which the technology is in use. In situations where small talk and play are essential activities, care workers often prioritize responsiveness to residents rather than making sure that the robot's nature is transparent. In these situations, residents' emotional expressions serve not only as crucial resources for their own sense-making but also as valuable indicators for care workers to comprehend how to navigate care situations.
旨在模仿生物的机器人动物，在照顾弱势患者的背景下，尤其是在欺骗方面，带来了伦理挑战。本文探讨了在痴呆症护理院中，情感如何成为应对机器人动物误导性本质的一种资源。基于对居民、护理人员和机器人动物之间互动的观察，该研究展示了患有痴呆症的人如何将这些模棱两可的机器人视为生物、物质制品或介于两者之间的东西。基于互动主义理论，该研究表明，情感在意义建构过程中充当工具，通过与物质对象的互动以及与护理人员的协作而产生。对社交机器人的欣赏并不完全取决于它们被视为真动物还是假动物；患有痴呆症的人可能会从“假”动物中找到乐趣，并对“真”动物表现出恐惧。这一观察结果促使我们认为，针对错误信息与机器人的指导方针与该技术实际使用的具体背景之间存在差距。在闲聊和玩耍是基本活动的情况下，护理人员通常优先考虑对居民的回应，而不是确保机器人的本质是透明的。在这些情况下，居民的情感表达不仅是他们自身意义建构的关键资源，也是护理人员理解如何应对护理情况的宝贵指标。
