Why robots can be culturally insensitive and how scientists are trying to fix it [Video]

A robot is chatting to an elderly British man in his bedroom. The robot has a cheery demeanour and a pleasantly high-pitched voice.

The robot – perhaps because of the man’s age – starts asking him about his memories of the second world war: “Please tell me what was the most difficult thing you and your family had to go through?” The elderly man goes on to talk about how his father was in the Royal Air Force and they didn’t see him for almost four years.

But why was a robot bluntly asking him about what may have been one of the most traumatic experiences he’s ever had? The robot’s behaviour was the product of the Caresses project (Culture-Aware Robots and Environmental Sensor Systems for Elderly Support).

This project fits into the new field of “cultural robotics”, which aims to design robots that can take into account the cultural background of the person they’re talking …