Venue
This half-day workshop will be held on 25th of August 2025 in conjunction with the
34th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Location: Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Workshop organizers
Abstract
As social robots are increasingly endowed with human-like personas, their design and behavior raise critical questions about deception, ethics, and trust in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The exploration of both the intentional and unintentional deception embedded in social robots’ persona design is necessary as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and increasingly anthropomorphic robot appearances shape conversational capabilities. While WoZ-controlled robots rely on pre-scripted responses, LLM-integrated robots generate real-time responses, simulating an adaptive persona. However, concerns arise as human interlocutors misinterpret intent or overestimate capabilities despite disclosed limitations (e.g., LLM hallucinations, lack of mobility) due to anthropomorphic features like an expressive face or LED-lit 'brain'. Such cases highlight the risks of external, superficial, and hidden state deception in HRI, facilitated by robot persona, directly influencing user expectations and trust in social robotic systems. A key question is whether users recognize these personas as constructed identities, unknowingly accept the deception, differentiate robot autonomy between WoZ-controlled and LLM-integrated robots, or strategically engage with it for smoother interaction. This workshop will examine how inherently deceptive robot personas influence trust and ethical considerations in long-term interactions, aiming to establish a common consensus on responsible persona design in HRI. By catering to an interdisciplinary discussion, we strive to define transparent and trustworthy approaches for real-world social robots.
Important dates: Call for Short Paper & Poster Submissions
- Submission deadline: Mon 21 July 2025
- Author notification: Mon 28 July 2025
- Workshop: Mon 25 August 2025
Short Paper & Poster Submission
Please submit your short paper (4 pages) or poster in PDF format: Submission Link(use pass: llm_robo_id4)
Topics for participation include (but are not limited to):
- Voluntary and involuntary deception in HRI experiments
- The design of social robots that increase or decrease the risk for social deception and uncalibrated trust and expectations
- Measuring Deception in HRI – Methods and challenges in assessing when and how humans feel deceived by robots
- The theory and practice of robot persona design
- Ethical aspects using LLMs and WoZ paradigms in experimental studies
- Long-Term Effects of Deception in HRI on user trust, acceptance, and transparency
Keywords: human-robot interaction, social robots, robot persona, large language models, deception, ethics
Tentative Schedule
| Time | Topic | Speaker/Goal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00 - 13:15 | Arrival and welcome | Organizers | |
| 13:15 - 13:45 | Keynote speaker 1 | Minha Lee | |
| 13:45 - 14:15 | Keynote speaker 2 | Silvia Rossi | |
| 14:15 - 14:30 | Coffee break | Networking | |
| 14:30 - 15:15 | Short paper & Poster Presentations | Selected Participants | |
| 15:15 - 15:45 | Keynote speaker 3 | Fethiye Irmak Doğan | |
| 15:45 - 16:15 | Group Discussions with speakers | Online Survey | |
| 16:15 - 16:30 | Closing Remarks & Takeaway | Organizers | |
Previous Editions
Robo-Identity 3: Designing for Identity in the Shared World
Boulder, Colorado, 11 March , 2024 (Hybrid Event)
Following the success of the first two editions of Robo-Identity workshops, the third edition will provide an opportunity to expand the discussion about artificial identity. This year, we will emphasise on the fluid nature of robo-identity in the shared world. Thus, we will explore questions regarding how the fluidity of robot identity can help enable personalized engagement, reverse the perpetuation of harmful social biases, and promote a future of more inclusive and adaptable technologies. This can be an opportunity to discuss questions such as: How do we design robots that can adapt to individuals' and groups' evolving identities? How can robots cater to the changing needs and preferences of people? How can and should robots analyze and synthesize evolving human identity while effectively adapting over time? How should robot identity be presented? When would it be appropriate to adapt and present a particular robot identity? For a rich discussion on these questions during the workshop, we encourage submissions from various disciplines that present different perspectives and challenges when designing robo-identity in the shared world.
More details can be found here.
Robo-Identity 2: Exploring Artificial Identity and Emotion via Speech Interactions
Sapporo, Japan, March 6, 2022 (Virtual Event)
Following the success of the first edition of Robo-Identity, the second edition provided an opportunity to expand the discussion about artificial identity. This year, focused on emotions that are expressed through speech and voice. Synthetic voice of robots can resemble and is becoming indistinguishable from expressive human voice. This can be an opportunity and a constraint in expressing emotional speech that can (falsely) convey a human-like identity that can mislead people, leading to ethical issues. How should we envision an agent’s artificial identity? In what ways should we have robots that maintain a machine-like stance, e.g., through robotic speech, or should emotional expressions that are increasingly human-like be seen as design opportunities? These are not mutually exclusive concerns. For this year’s edition, the special theme was “speech, emotion and artificial identity”.
More details can be found here.
Robo-Identity 1 : Artificial identity and multi-embodiment
Boulder, USA, March 8, 2021 (Virtual Event)
Who is a robot? There are a burgeoning number of "bodies", from standard humanoid robots, e.g., Nao, to more creative renditions e.g., asynchronized trio of robots as one or a more abstract Jibo. Yet thus far, who resides in artificial bodies and whether their identities can fluidly travel across different technologies remains as a fascinating, but under-explored research area. As a topic, identity has not been an explicit focus of research in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and in neighboring fields of robo-philosophy, HCI, and design; whose identity is housed where and why deserves to be more thoroughly investigated. Hence, this half day workshop aimed to collaboratively discuss the problem of artificial identity or robo-identity that is brought forth by increasingly diverse interfaces and agents, in a multi-disciplinary manner.
More details can be found here.