Robot coworkers impact work levels - 8th January 2024

Even though the integration of technological tools into the workplace is generally viewed positively, a new study claims robotic assistants may in fact render co-workers less efficient.

Previous psychological studies have coined the term "social loafing " to describe the phenomenon whereby workers become less productive when collaborating with a colleague considered conscientious.

The most recent study by researchers at the Technical University of Berlin hypothesised that social loafing could occur with not just human co-workers, but also robotic ones. "Teamwork is a mixed blessing" said study author Dietlind Cymek. "Working together can motivate people to perform well but it can also lead to a loss of motivation because the individual contribution is not as visible."

The experiment required participants to be separated into test and control groups, before being assigned a task of inspecting circuit boards for faults. Researchers explained to the first group that a robot named "Panda " would be helping them to spot anything awry.

In the initial three quarters of the experiment, Panda detected every single fault, establishing trust in the subjects for their robotic colleague. Yet Panda fell short of identifying defects with the remaining few circuit boards.

As the experiment unfolded, both cohorts gave the impression of being on task, allocating similar time to the inspection of the boards. Scientists said this could be a representation of the "looking not seeing " effect, where workers process a task less deeply when they believe a fellow colleague is reliable.

The experiment results ultimately revealed that more faults were identified by the group working alone than with the test group. On average, the control group discovered 4.2 defects on every board, which had five problems, whereas the Panda-assisted group pinpointed a mere 3.3.

Surveyed afterwards, participants in each group rated their performances positively and stated they felt responsible for the task, implying the test group was unaware their attention levels were deficient.

Researchers acknowledged that in real-life workplaces, workers with robot helpers are potentially less observant due to the inherent flaw of the study - social loafing is more challenging to detect when participants know they 're being evaluated.