Benjamin Lebrun

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Canterbury

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About

Benjamin Lebrun is a rising researcher at the intersection of social robotics and human-robot interaction (HRI), whose work critically examines how people perceive and respond to artificial social agents. His primary research areas include robot design ethics, the psychology of human-robot trust, and the social implications of deploying autonomous agents in everyday life. Lebrun’s most cited paper, “Improving the acceptability of social robots: Make them look different from humans” (2023, 11 citations), argues that humanlike robot appearances can backfire, leading to distrust or even abuse—a key insight for designers aiming to foster positive long-term interactions. In a series of replication and extension studies (“Phantom Costs in Human-Robot Interaction,” 2025, 3 citations; “Too Good to Be True,” 2026, 3 citations), Lebrun demonstrates that people reject overly generous offers from robots because they infer hidden “phantom costs,” such as malicious intent. This finding challenges assumptions about robot generosity and highlights deep-seated psychological barriers to acceptance. Though early in his career, Lebrun’s work is already shaping debates on robot ethics and user experience, offering empirically grounded guidance for creating more trustworthy and socially acceptable robotic systems.