The guide names anthropomorphism and the uncanny valley first. Anthropomorphism means treating a machine as though it has feelings and intentions — which people do readily, and designers encourage.
The uncanny valley as an actual curve, and then the chain of reasonable defences when something goes wrong.
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Comfort rises as a machine becomes more human-like, drops sharply when it is almost-but-not-quite, then rises again. Designers stay short of the dip — and staying short of it means making something likeable.
What a likeable machine gets
- Trust it has not earned. People follow a friendly robot's instruction more readily than a screen's.
- Attributed feelings. Children and isolated adults in particular treat a responsive machine as though it cares.
- Disclosure. People tell a machine things they would not tell a person, because it does not seem to judge.
- Attachment. Which becomes a problem when the company discontinues the product.
The care-home question: A companion robot genuinely reduces loneliness for some people. It is also a cheaper answer than staff, and the person least able to object is the person receiving it.
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| Dilemma | The question | Why it has no easy answer |
|---|---|---|
| Responsibility | Who answers when a machine harms someone? | Maker, operator and software supplier all have a defence |
| Safety | How safe is safe enough? | “Better than a human” is a low bar and a real one |
| Employment | What happens to the work? | Tasks go before jobs, which changes who can enter a trade |
| Surveillance | What does it record while it works? | A machine that senses people is a machine that logs them |
Real-world examples you can name
Waymo driverless taxis — public service in Phoenix from 2020; San Francisco from 2023
Vehicles carrying passengers with no human driver, using lidar, radar and cameras within mapped service areas. Incidents blocking traffic and obstructing emergency vehicles have made the terms of city permission the live question.
Who it affected: Passengers, other road users, and taxi drivers whose work is at stake.
Boston Dynamics' Spot — commercial sale from 2020
A four-legged robot that walks over ground wheels cannot manage, used for inspecting construction sites, refineries and nuclear facilities. Police trials prompted objections strong enough that some forces returned it.
Who it affected: Inspection workers kept out of hazardous places, and communities uneasy about policing use.
Platform work and employment status — UK Supreme Court ruling on Uber drivers February 2021; EU platform work directive adopted 2024
Work is allocated by an app rather than a manager. The UK Supreme Court held that Uber drivers are workers entitled to minimum wage and holiday pay, and the EU has since legislated a presumption of employment where a platform controls the work.
Who it affected: Couriers and drivers, and companies whose model assumed self-employment.
How this is tested — this micro carries the long questions in topic 3.7, and Paper 1 part c returns to it regularly. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part c: evaluate robots in healthcare, policing or care
- Part b: explain a concern about a described machine
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q3: contrast two sources on an autonomous system
- Q4: synthesise sources on deployment and responsibility
The trap: “robots will take our jobs”: Too broad to mark well. Say which tasks, in which job, and what that does to the people who used to learn the trade by doing them.
Discuss the use of social robots as companions for older people living alone.
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