Please do not switch me off! ... researchers said that a possible explanation for their results was that people interpreted Nao’s objections as “a sign of autonomy.” ...

"No! Please do not switch me off! ... The researchers said that a possible explanation for their results was that people interpreted Nao's objections as "a sign of autonomy".

Please do not switch me off!” When this happened, the human volunteers were likely to refuse to turn the bot off. Of the 43 volunteers who heard Nao’s pleas, 13 refused.

If a little humanoid robot begged you to not shut it off, would you show compassion? In an experiment designed to investigate how people treat robots when they act like humans, many participants ...