To kill a mockingbird robot

Robots are being introduced in our society but their social status is still unclear. A critical issue is if the robot´s exhibition of intelligent life-like behavior leads to the users´ perception of animacy. The ultimate test for the life-likeness of a robot is to kill it. We therefore conducted an experiment in which the robot´s intelligence and the participants´ gender were the independent variables and the users´ destructive behavior of the robot the dependent variables. Several practical and methodological problems compromised the acquired data, but we can conclude that the robot´s intelligence had a significant influence on the users´ destructive behavior. We discuss the encountered problems and the possible application of this animacy measuring method.