Alessia Tonelli

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About

Alessia Tonelli is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction and social robotics, with a primary focus on deception detection. Her work explores whether autonomous systems can acquire the complex social skill of lie detection, a capability traditionally reserved for human professionals such as teachers, therapists, and law enforcement officers. Tonelli's most cited paper, "Can a Robot Catch You Lying? A Machine Learning System to Detect Lies During Interactions" (2019, 29 citations), demonstrates her major contribution: developing machine learning models that enable robots to identify deceptive behaviors in real-time social interactions. Her earlier foundational work, "Can a Humanoid Robot Spot a Liar?" (2018, 5 citations), laid the groundwork by investigating how robots might leverage cues from human-human communication research to detect dishonesty. Tonelli’s research is notable for its practical implications—equipping robots with lie detection could revolutionize security, therapy, and education by assisting professionals in high-stakes environments. Her innovative approach bridges psychology, artificial intelligence, and robotics, making her a key figure in creating socially aware machines. With a growing citation impact, Tonelli continues to push boundaries, asking how robots can understand not just our words, but our intentions.