German Research Reveals Relations Between Language And Trust In Robots

Illustration of a talking robot (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - A research team in Germany recently published a study testing the relationship between language and human trust in a talking robot.

The question is whether humans will judge robots more trustworthy if they speak in standard language or whether they prefer to speak in local dialects.

A total of 120 original German speakers were recruited to find out the answer. Research participants were given a video of a small robot speaking in a Berlin dialect and a more general standard German dialect. Respondents were then asked to determine which one was more trusted.

As it turns out, there is no suitable answer for everyone. As reported in the scientific journal Frontiers, study lead author Katharina K\"ohne, said people's preferences were more nuanced than the team expected.

"Shocking, people have mixed feelings about robots that speak in dialects, while others prefer standard language. This makes us think: maybe not only the robot, but also the people involved who form this preference," K\", K\"ohne said.

Previous research shows that talking to people in languages they understand can convey message content, but communicating in their own language can touch their hearts.

However, as the German team wrote in their paper, "accentism" can play a role in human communication. This means that in some cases, listeners may think common dialects are more prestigious or competent and prefer them, while others may find local dialects (which they share) more convenient and more desirable.

Overall, robots that speak in standard language are considered more trustworthy or preferred, perhaps because of group bias and accentitism, while according to other studies, participants prefer robots that speak with dialects, "explained the study.

This difference of view is not only related to whether a person speaks in certain dialects. It also involves what device a particular subject uses.

Those using mobile devices such as cell phones or tablets tend to choose standard German-speaking speakers, while PC users participating in the study show a tendency towards dialect speakers.

Researchers suggest that users traveling or using smaller screens may have a higher cognitive load and, therefore, more likely not to believe in more colokial sounds.

In the end, this study shows that under appropriate conditions, certain users can more or less tend to believe in machines based solely on the dialect used.