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Staging, Accommodating or Caring : Reviewing the Human Labor Involved in Shaping Robots into Agents

Stedtler, Samantha LU (2025) 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI '25 p.1650-1654
Abstract
This review examines the hidden and invisible labor humans perform to enable robots to function as agents within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). While robot agency is often framed as internal and autonomous, this perspective overlooks the relational dynamics that sustain robot functionality in real-world settings. Drawing on feminist theory, the review highlights how humans frequently share the responsibility of managing robot limitations through scaffolding, mediation, and care work, often unnoticed or undervalued. The review compares various studies that investigate this labor, focusing on the roles of human agents and their contributions in ensuring robots succeed in tasks. It identifies gaps in the current literature, including a... (More)
This review examines the hidden and invisible labor humans perform to enable robots to function as agents within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). While robot agency is often framed as internal and autonomous, this perspective overlooks the relational dynamics that sustain robot functionality in real-world settings. Drawing on feminist theory, the review highlights how humans frequently share the responsibility of managing robot limitations through scaffolding, mediation, and care work, often unnoticed or undervalued. The review compares various studies that investigate this labor, focusing on the roles of human agents and their contributions in ensuring robots succeed in tasks. It identifies gaps in the current literature, including a limited focus on domestic environments and the lack of frameworks to conceptualize and make visible the often unrecognized labor in HRI. The findings call for more attention to the invisible labor integral to robot agency and suggest future research directions that incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand and value this critical work. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
HRI '25 : Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction - Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
pages
5 pages
publisher
IEEE Press
conference name
2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, HRI '25
conference location
Melbourne, Australia
conference dates
2025-03-04 - 2025-03-06
ISBN
979-8-3503-7893-1
DOI
10.5555/3721488.3721738
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2a626d54-a0af-4177-b6cc-3912dcbefff8
alternative location
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3721488.3721738
date added to LUP
2025-03-17 02:19:09
date last changed
2025-04-07 13:18:00
@inproceedings{2a626d54-a0af-4177-b6cc-3912dcbefff8,
  abstract     = {{This review examines the hidden and invisible labor humans perform to enable robots to function as agents within Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). While robot agency is often framed as internal and autonomous, this perspective overlooks the relational dynamics that sustain robot functionality in real-world settings. Drawing on feminist theory, the review highlights how humans frequently share the responsibility of managing robot limitations through scaffolding, mediation, and care work, often unnoticed or undervalued. The review compares various studies that investigate this labor, focusing on the roles of human agents and their contributions in ensuring robots succeed in tasks. It identifies gaps in the current literature, including a limited focus on domestic environments and the lack of frameworks to conceptualize and make visible the often unrecognized labor in HRI. The findings call for more attention to the invisible labor integral to robot agency and suggest future research directions that incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand and value this critical work.}},
  author       = {{Stedtler, Samantha}},
  booktitle    = {{HRI '25 : Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction}},
  isbn         = {{979-8-3503-7893-1}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{1650--1654}},
  publisher    = {{IEEE Press}},
  title        = {{Staging, Accommodating or Caring : Reviewing the Human Labor Involved in Shaping Robots into Agents}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5555/3721488.3721738}},
  doi          = {{10.5555/3721488.3721738}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}