The impact of different behavioral responses by robots in situations of offense on human forgiveness

With the widespread application of artificial intelligence, people are faced with the need to decide whether to forgive humans or robots when encountering offensive behavior. Two experiments investigated the impact of the interacting entities (humans vs. robots) and their behavioral responses (no response, apology, self-deprecation, self-punishment) on forgiveness, as well as the psychological mechanisms behind this decision-making process. The results showed that people tend to forgive robots more often. This tendency is driven by higher levels of positive emotions, and the net benefits associated with forgiveness may also play a role in this decision-making process. It’s worth noting that robots exhibit certain advantages in promoting forgiveness through strategies such as self-punishment. Computational modeling, as a supplementary analysis tool, revealed that the nature of the interaction plays a significant role in determining whether forgiveness is granted.