Hanspeter Pfister

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About

Hanspeter Pfister is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of robotics, human-robot interaction, and security. His work critically examines the social dynamics of trust between humans and autonomous systems, with a particular focus on how overtrust can be exploited to compromise physical security. In his landmark 2017 study, "Piggybacking Robots" (82 citations), Pfister conducted a series of field experiments outside a secure-access student dormitory, where a robot asked passersby to assist it in gaining entry. The results were striking: participants were as likely to help the robot exit the building as they were to let it in, revealing a dangerous willingness to override security protocols for a seemingly benign machine. This work has become foundational in the emerging field of robot social engineering, influencing both cybersecurity policy and the design of autonomous systems. Pfister’s contributions have been widely recognized, with his research cited in over 80 publications, and he continues to shape how we understand the vulnerabilities introduced by increasingly autonomous and socially interactive robots.