Glasgow researchers have found that ‘social robots’ could be an effective tool for combatting loneliness, with a new study revealing that people interacting with social robots disclosed more about themselves.

A new study led by the University of Glasgow found that people interacting with these robots also reported feeling less lonely and disclosed more information about themselves.

Published in the International Journal of Social Robotics, the study involved 39 people from across the UK who were introduced to social robot ‘Pepper’ 10 times over five weeks.

The study found that interacting with this robot improved people’s moods over time.

Researchers say this suggests that social robots could be used as an effective tool for interventions to support peoples’ emotional health and wellbeing in the future.

Professor Emily Cross, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, and a full Professor at ETH Zürich said:

“We’re really excited by the findings of our new study, which sets the stage for using social robots as conversation partners in future.

“While interactions with social robots are novel and exciting for many people, we were unsure to what extent people’s engagement with them could be sustained over time.

“The results of our study suggest there are contexts in which people are willing to engage with these robots long-term, and social robots could be used as a tool to allow people to talk about themselves, to help support people’s emotional health.”

A year ago, a Scotland-wide survey showed that mental wellbeing had declined significantly since before the pandemic, with those in more deprived areas experiencing poorer mental health.

The latest survey presents a ‘picture of health and wellbeing in Scotland as we emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic’, with average levels of mental wellbeing dropping again.

The proportion of adults feeling lonely ‘most’ or ‘all of the time’ increased from 8 to 11% between 2021 and 2022.

This new study aimed to look at people’s engagement with the long-term, repeated use of social robots through mediated online conversational sessions at the height of the pandemic.

Participants were split into two groups, with conversation topics framed within the context of the pandemic and the other group’s topics without explicit mention of the pandemic.

Participants from both groups shared that they found the robot’s responses ‘increasingly comforting’ as time went on.

The researchers found that participants disclosed more to the robot over time, speaking for longer durations as well as reporting the robot to be more social and competent as time progressed.

This relationship was observed in both groups of participants.

Participants also found the robot’s responses helped improve their overall mood and reported feeling less lonely.

The team says their findings emphasise the unique nature of social interactions with robots, where people were willing to engage with Pepper and establish some form of connection, rather than just using the robot as an object.

The researchers say their positive findings supports the need for further innovation and research in the use of social robots to target loneliness as a public health issue.

Dr Guy Laban, Affiliated Research Associate at the University of Glasgow and Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, said:

“Our study lays the foundation for building relationships with robots, positioning them as valuable conversational partners, and providing crucial evidence for their potential inclusion in interventions supporting emotional health.

“It is exciting to see how this technology can be used for social good, providing meaning and a safe space to those in need.

“When conducting the experiment during the pandemic, we observed how a robot could lift people's mood amid very dark and isolated times.”

Individuals experiencing negative emotions including low mood, loneliness, and stress, and introverted individuals, were found to be more more likely to open up and share more with the robot.

Dr Laban added that ethical and responsible use of robots and AI has a place in the future of understanding and improving healthy relationships:

“Considering the recent advances in AI (e.g., generative AI and Large language models, like GPT), studies like this are crucial.

“They help us better understand how humans establish healthy and constructive relationships with AI agents, such as robots, supporting the ethical and responsible deployment of this technology in the future.”

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