Machines with Faces: Robot Bodies and the Problem of Cruelty
Abstract
Even if it is never possible to create a sentient robot that might lay claim to the status of personhood, a convincingly realistic robotic simulation of the human body could alter how human beings act towards one another. This article argues that the human face exerts a powerful influence over interpersonal interaction, creating empathetic connections that limit our capacity to engage in acts of cruelty; an ability to convincingly simulate the human face would detach it from the attribution of human personhood and so encourage a dismissal of its affective charge. This possibility can be understood in the context of existing attempts to inoculate individuals against the appeal of the face so as to facilitate organised killing.
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Self-directed engagement with GenAI presents risks related to privacy, safety, and ethical considerations and may influence children's cognitive and social development in complex ways.
“it also presents risks related to privacy, safety, and ethical considerations and may influence children's cognitive and social development in complex ways [8,34,38,41].”
From Child-AI Co-Creation: A Review of the Current Research Landscape and a Proposal for Six Design Considerations (2025) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Black, D.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Black, Daniel
- ORCID
- Black, Daniel
- Venue
- Body & Society
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-04-03
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 3-27
- ISSN
- 1357-034X (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3632
- OpenAlex
- W2934483775
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 1.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Body & Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Cybernetics and Technology in Society
- Keywords
- robot faces, cruelty, personhood, empathy, human face, interpersonal interaction, robot ethics
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