Human-robot interaction and user manipulation

The analysis presented is focused on the interaction among social robots and humans. It is here stated that, despite the multidisciplinary debate around the theme, social robots have to be ontologically deemed objects. The pleasant design and the simulation of intelligence, as much as social and emotional competences, are useful to convey acceptability and to favour interaction. However, they may lead to forms of manipulation which can impact the users’ will and undermine their physical and psychological integrity. This rises the need of a legal framework, able to guarantee a really human-centred development of new technologies and to ensure the protection of people involved in the interaction. Therefore, the recent European proposal of regulation, the Artificial Intelligence Act, is examined. In particular, the section on prohibited practices is critically analysed, so as to highlight the controversial aspects of such an approach. Thus, it is suggested the role of human dignity as a balancing principle to address the issues related to user manipulation in the human-robot interaction domain.