What do home robots want? The ambivalent power of cuteness in robotic relationships

Abstract

A wave of social, domestic robots is poised to enter our homes. Robots such as Jibo, Kuri and Olly are networked with other ‘smart’ devices and use cameras and voice control to provide companionship, care and household management. These robots are proposed as members of the family, and as such must encourage intimacy and trust with their human caregivers. In this article, we explore the nexus between the cute aesthetic of home robots and the kinds of affective relationships this aesthetic enables with the human user. Our argument is that the cuteness of home robots creates a highly ambivalent relationship of power between (human) subject and (robotic/digital) object, whereby the manifestation of consciousness and the production of lasting emotional bonds require home robots to exceed the affective and semiotic limitations, even as their cute appearance may encourage the production of intimacy. By exceeding the borders established by their own design, home robots are able to manifest as conscious beings, a manifestation which both destabilizes the power differential between user and robot and, paradoxically, points to the possibility of their own replacement. To explore these ideas, we discuss three soon-to-be-released social robots: Mayfield Robotics’ Kuri, Emotech’s Olly and Jibo Inc.’s Jibo. Each promises a unique personality that will integrate them as a member of the family.