Antonio Lieto

About

Antonio Lieto is a researcher whose work sits at a rich intersection of cognitive architectures, human-robot interaction, and computational creativity. His research explores how machines can be endowed with human-like cognitive and emotional capacities, drawing on frameworks such as ACT-R to model complex behaviors ranging from persuasion and ethical reasoning to affective storytelling. Among his most notable contributions is his early work on artwork creation through dual-process cognitive architectures (2015, 25 citations), demonstrating that computational systems can meaningfully engage in creative tasks. Equally influential is his study of a storytelling robot navigating persuasive and ethical stances around COVID-19 topics (2021, 25 citations), a pioneering effort in needs-driven cognitive modeling for social robots. His affective sensemaking system for museum storytelling (2023, 17 citations) further showcases his commitment to emotionally intelligent AI in cultural contexts. Lieto has also made significant strides in understanding how empathy shapes human attributions of mental states to robots (2023, 14 citations), and his ongoing cAESAR workshop series reflects his leadership in shaping the broader human-robot interaction community. Across his portfolio, Lieto consistently advances the frontier of socially aware, cognitively grounded artificial agents.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Artwork creation by a cognitive architecture integrating computational creativity and dual process approaches

   25 citations · 2015
2. 2
   A Storytelling Robot Managing Persuasive and Ethical Stances via ACT-R: An Exploratory Study

   25 citations · 2021
3. 3
   A sensemaking system for grouping and suggesting stories from multiple affective viewpoints in museums

   17 citations · 2023
4. 4
   Can empathy affect the attribution of mental states to robots?

   14 citations · 2023
5. 5
   Workshop on Adapted intEraction with SociAl Robots (cAESAR)

   7 citations · 2020
6. 6
   3rd Workshop on Adapted intEraction with SociAl Robots

   3 citations · 2022
7. 7
   The Impact of Adaptive Emotional Alignment on Mental State Attribution and User Empathy in HRI

   2 citations · 2025
8. 8
   5th Workshop on Adapted intEraction with SociAl Robots (cAESAR)

   2 citations · 2024
9. 9
   Emotion Alignment in Human-Robot Interaction: Effects on Communication Styles and Persuasion

   2 citations · 2025
10. 10
    CaESAR: The Fourth Workshop on Adapted intEraction with SociAl Robots

    2 citations · 2023

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links