CMSC 33281: Topics in Human-Robot Interaction

Spring 2025

People engage with most machines (e.g., microwaves, cell phones, printers) in similar ways that they engage with non-machine tools (e.g., hammers, water bottles) - they enable people to complete tasks and extend what a person can do. However, robots, a specific kind of machine, seem to occupy a unique category where people treat them somewhere in between a tool and a human or social agent. A vast majority of people believe that robots cannot have emotions or consciousness and that the role of robots is to provide assistance to people – much like the purpose of a tool. However, unlike tools, people often ascribe agency, autonomy, and mind to a wide range of robots – from robot vacuums to humanoid robots.

In this class, we will try to answer the questions:

• What factor(s) determine when people engage with robots and machines as tools versus social agents?
• What are the consequences or outcomes of engaging with robots as tools versus social agents?

To answer these questions, we will discuss relevant research papers during class meetings and students will write a final paper that proposes a new HRI theory that predicts how humans interact with robots and machines.

This course can be taken either as a CS elective (this course is considered an HCI elective) or as a seminar.