Could robots be counselors? Early research shows positive user experience

[Forbin]

"The next stage is to undertake a quantitative study, where we can measure whether participants felt that the intervention actually increased their activity levels."

Don't you just love the way these folk so easily slip into their favourite fantasy - that they can measure people's feelings with sufficient objectivity to produce validly quantitative readings.

If they try to measure patients' "feelings" instead of their objective activity, they may just wind up measuring how comfortable patients are with lying to robots.

 

[Barry]

If they try to measure patients' "feelings" instead of their objective activity, they may just wind up measuring how comfortable patients are with lying to robots.

And with much of this subjective-origin bias, it is not lying - patients can potentially state some untruths in the sincere belief they are speaking the truth. As well, of course, as the cases where they know they may be leaning on the truth.