Service Sector Professionals’ Perspective on Robots Doing Their Job in the Future

Nina Savela, Rita Latikka, Reetta Oksa, Atte Oksanen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
29 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

After a long history of industrial automation, robots are entering service fields at an accelerating rate due to the recent technological advances in robotics. Understanding the acceptance and applicability of robots is essential for successful introduction, desired benefits, and well-managed transformation of the labor market. In this work, we investigated whether service sector professionals consider robots applicable to their field compared to professionals from other sectors. We collected survey data from Finnish (N = 1817) and U.S. participants (N = 1740) and analyzed them using ordinary least squares regression. Results showed that Finnish and U.S. participants from the service sector disclosed a less positive attitude toward robots’ suitability to their own occupational field compared to participants from other fields. Younger age, technological expertise, prior experience interacting with robots at work, and positive attitude toward robots were associated with higher perceived robot suitability. Perceived robot suitability was also found to mediate the relationship between occupational sector and positive interaction attitudes. The results indicate that robots entering into service industries evokes some resistance and doubt in professionals of these fields. Increasing technological knowledge and prior experience with robots at work are central factors when introducing robots in a socially sustainable way.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHuman-Computer Interaction. Interaction Techniques and Novel Applications
Subtitle of host publicationThematic Area, HCI 2021, Held as Part of the 23rd HCI International Conference, HCII 2021, Virtual Event, July 24–29, 2021, Proceedings, Part II
PublisherSpringer
Pages300–317
Volume12763
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-030-78465-2
ISBN (Print)978-3-030-78464-5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2021
Publication typeA4 Article in conference proceedings
EventInternational Conference on Human-Computer Interaction -
Duration: 1 Jan 2019 → …

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
Volume12763
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
Name Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Human-Computer Interaction
Period1/01/19 → …

Publication forum classification

  • Publication forum level 0

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