4 Sep 2014

Why humans sometimes prefer to let robots be the boss

From Nine To Noon, 9:34 am on 4 September 2014

Matthew Gombolay

In manufacturing, advanced robotic technology has opened up the possibility of integrating highly autonomous mobile robots into human teams, in the factory setting where most of the work is currently done by humans. However, with this capability comes the issue of how to maximize both team efficiency and the happiness of human team members to work with robotic counterparts, without people feeling devalued.

Matthew Gombolay is a PhD student at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has performed experiments to find the sweet spot between robot control and human satisfaction in the workplace.