Psychological Intimacy with Robots? Using interaction patterns to uncover depth of relation

Abstract

Abstract — This conceptual paper broaches possibilities and limits of establishing psychological intimacy in HRI. Keywords- human-robot interaction, interaction patterns, social and moral development, authenticity, intimacy, design methodology I. PSYCHOLOGICAL INTIMACY IN HRI In his book Love + Sex with Robots, Levy writes: “Robots will transform human notions of love and sexuality…[with humans] learning, experimenting, and enjoying new forms of relationship that will be made possible, pleasurable, and satisfying through the development of highly sophisticated humanoid robots ” (p. 22) [1]. The sexual aspects that Levy refers to have already begun insofar as robot sex technologies currently exist on the retail market [2]. We believe that the following will occur: (a) Because of the large amounts of money involved, there will be a growing