Identifying Dark Patterns in Social Robot Behavior

Social robots have become increasingly utilized in intimate environments where their roles can include caretakers for the elderly, general physical or emotional support, entertainment, and educators for children. To accommodate for these increasingly intimate relationships, robotics companies have begun employing robotics with the ability to identity emotions and respond with emotionality in return. This faux emotional relationship opens the door for potential user manipulation and exploitation through deceptive robot design. Dark patterns are deceptive design patterns used by websites or apps to manipulate users into actions the user did not intend. We argue that dark patterns can be programmed into social robotics to leverage these unidirectional human - robot emotional bonds to manipulate users, which could result in the exploitation of vulnerable populations like children and the elderly. Drawing from the dark pattern and social robotics literature, we suggest ways that dark patterns can manifest themselves in these relationships. We also provide recommendations for ethical practices when designing emotional social robots.