Dietlind Helen Cymek, the study author, calls teamwork a “mixed blessing” as it can both motivate to complete tasks or lead to a loss of motivation. It got the scientists thinking whether the same effect would persist if the teammate was a robot.
The hypothesis was tested experimentally. Two groups of employees were asked to examine the text for errors, and only one group was informed that a computer would perform this task with them. Even though the team didn't interact with the robot directly, they could see and hear how it worked.
The researchers noticed that focus and energy of the group participants dropped during the experiment when they noticed that the robot found and noted several errors. This finding supports the hypothesis that people give less attention to task when they feel that a colleague or resource is sufficiently reliable.
Source: https://incrussia.ru/news/lyudi-teryayut-motivatsiyu-s-robotami/
Photos are from open sources.