"I never imagined a robot speaking Urdu": Exploring the influence of language on robots' acceptance

Ahmad, Sunbul M., Ahmad, Muneeb I., Fuentes Toro, Carolina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0871-939X, Verdezoto Dias, Nervo ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5006-4262 and Stawarz, Katarzyna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9021-0615 2025. "I never imagined a robot speaking Urdu": Exploring the influence of language on robots' acceptance. Presented at: HRI 2025, Melbourne, Australia, 4-6 March 2025. HRI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. pp. 1186-1190. 10.5555/3721488.3721643

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Abstract

As robots are increasingly becoming part of daily life worldwide, it is important to ensure that they are inclusive and culturally sensitive to accommodate users from different backgrounds. In particular, many countries in the Global South (GS) have yet to explore the integration and benefits of robots, especially for underrepresented language groups such as Urdu. We present an exploratory mixed-methods study that investigates how robots' language affects the social interaction, acceptability and overall perception of robots within Pakistani Urdu-speaking individuals. The findings highlight the importance of language and cultural adaptation, and how these factors influence the acceptance of robots, emphasising the need for more inclusive and religion sensitive technologies designed for the GS users.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Computer Science & Informatics
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 March 2025
Date of Acceptance:	7 January 2025
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2025 01:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176667

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