Sweet little lies: People inclined go along with 'dishonest' robots

Research shows humans are mostly willing to put with up a robot that lies to them, so long as it does so in an effort to protect them. — Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa

WASHINGTON: People will overlook white lies from robots, but are less tolerant when machines "misrepresent" their capabilities or carry out surveillance, according to George Mason University scientists.

The team surveyed almost 500 people for their views on hypothetical scenarios where robots have long been deployed, such as in health care, retail and domestic cleaning.