Final Remarks on the Intentional Stance Towards Humanoid Robots

The final chapter of this book summarises the lessons learned from the studies addressing the question of whether and when humans adopt the Intentional Stance towards robots. It highlights that both parties—the robot and the human, as well as interaction between them, play a role in whether the human will attribute intentional agency to the robot, or will rather treat it as a mechanical device. From the human side, individual differences, state of mind, as well as education and cultural background, are all contributing factors to whether, and to what extent, the Intentional Stance is adopted. From the robot side, its appearance, human-like behaviour, behavioural variability, and human-like motor repertoire will impact the degree to which Intentional Stance is adopted. Finally, in interaction, what matters is engagement, social bonding, and attunement. This chapter concludes with the final take-home message: adoption of the Intentional Stance is a gradient and can range from ‘just a manner of speaking’ to a full-blown attribution of mental states to the system. This take-home message is then followed with open questions for future research, and an invitation to the final part of the book, the interview with Prof. Daniel Dennett, the originator of the concept of the Intentional Stance.