The coming age of robots as managers and leaders
Will we follow a Robot Leader? How soon will a Robot Leader replace or augment you as a manager? And what can we learn about leadership from robots?
A team of researchers1 has investigated how humans respond to a realistic leadership task set by a semi-humanoid robot. The researchers programmed the robot, Pepper, to act as either a transactional or transformational leader. Pepper is the world’s first social, humanoid robot, manufactured by SoftBank Robotics, optimised for human interaction and designed with the ability to read emotions.
The study focused on the situation of a leader giving their subordinates a task. To make the scenario realistic, Pepper was programmed to be the head of marketing for a consumer goods company making products that helped plants and flowers grow. Pepper gave instructions to create a marketing strategy for the company.
The transformational version of the robot leader referred to its vision for its company, its confidence in staff to complete the stated task, and its enthusiasm, with large projecting movements away from its body, such as throwing its hands up in the air when displaying enthusiasm, exemplifying the tactics of charismatic leaders. In comparison, the transactional robot leader focused on rewards for completing the task, set specific goals, and specified concrete requirements, while showing movements closer to its body and displaying more directive movements like shaking its head.
The research found that our perceptions of a robot leader mirrors our perception of human leaders: we generally prefer to follow transformational leaders over transactional leaders. The participants in the study stated that the transformational robot leader was able to convey a compelling vision. They anticipated that it would support them in their career growth by posing appropriate challenges, and saw it as a potential role-model they could learn from. They could imagine being motivated by a robot leader and were willing to trust it under the right conditions. The participants with the transactional robot leader stated that the robot might be unempathetic and dull, and they imagined that the robot leader would be bad for their work environment.
For leaders, this is a good reminder that transformational leadership has been linked to a positive effects on organizational commitment, creativity, engagement, and trust. Transactional leadership by contrast is characterised by management-by-exception and contingent reward and is more effective at increasing performance under time pressure and for tasks that do not require creativity.
The researchers found that our preconceived assumptions about robots influence our perceptions and reactions towards robot leadership. People with positive assumptions tend to adopt a positive view that the robot leader would be fairer and more competent than humans. In contrast, people with negative assumptions about robots worried about the dangers of robot leaders, and lacked trust in the robot leader.
One could imagine future Human Resource departments engaging in education and training to create a positive predisposition to robot leaders, so that organisations can integrate robot leaders effectively and safely into their work environments.
We accept that robots can take over menial tasks from humans such as in manufacturing or in dangerous situations such as rescue missions. We should consider that with constantly improving capabilities, humanoid robots may be introduced into complex social situations, such as leadership. Increasingly, social robots are being developed with soft skills touted as uniquely human like empathy, humour and irony, all traits that boost social influence. Social robot leaders may, as example, use algorithms to identity how to motivate a particular group of employees to optimal performance. Companies, in their perpetual quest for savings, might find that robots are more effective, dependable, and lower cost than human managers.
Human-robot interaction (HRI) research is only likely to continue. This small study may be at the beginning of the avalanche. Both researchers and companies will continue to explore how robot leaders should appear and behave in order that they are trusted and accepted as effective leaders.
In the future every job will be impacted by technology. If robots can increasingly use algorithms to identify human emotion and increase motivation levels, is there a future in which robots augment, or replace, professional level, white collar managers? Does this future concept make us feel excited or threatened? Robot leaders – ‘ridiculous and it will never happen’?
- Cichor JE, Hubner-Benz S, Benz T, Emmerling F, Peus C (2023) Robot leadership– Investigating human perceptions and reactions towards social robots showing leadership behaviors. PLoS ONE 18(2): e0281786. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281786
