Social robots and Anti-Social Behaviour: A Study of Future Crime Risks Enabled by Social Robots

Research summary

Robots have long been used to assist humans through physical interaction, for instance by supporting physical rehabilitation or performing actions such as retrieving items or cleaning. The relatively new field of social robotics (SR) focuses on developing robots capable of social rather than physical interactions, by endowing them with the ability to behave in socially aware and engaging ways – often through anthropomorphic features and skills such as speech, facial expressions, and communicative gestures (Breazeal et al, 2016; Matarić & Scassellati, 2016). 

The potential legitimate uses of social robots are numerous. Social assistive robots (SARs) can be used to offer social, emotional and cognitive support in health and care contexts such as eldercare, hands-off stroke rehabilitation, and social skill training of children with autism (Tapus, Matarić & Scassellati, 2007). Social robotics can also have beneficial applications in education, quality of life, entertainment, communication, and collaborative teamwork (Breazeal et al, 2016). Companion robots, for instance, are designed to establish a relationship and an emotional bonding with the user. 

Social robots are already being commercialised and their use in various sectors is growing. The increasing diffusion of social robots raises important questions about their crime and security implications. Like most technologies, social robots are likely to create opportunities and motivations for new forms of crime or reshape existing criminal threats.

Unfortunately, these crime and security implications are still under-researched. This project seeks to fill this gap in knowledge through a scoping study to identify and prioritise the potential emerging and future crimes that social robotics might enable or facilitate.