The adoption of robotics in everyday life has increased rapidly thanks to recent advancements in technology. With the accelerated demand for automated processes, algorithms and AI have been given improved skills, including skills associated with human beings. Whereas algorithms initially only provided forecasts (e.g., weather, traffic, productivity), the advancement in technology has now made it possible for algorithms to generate recommendations in domains that are purely matters of taste, make decisions, interact with customers, generate new product ideas, even pass the Turing test, which is commonly used to distinguish the machine from a human!

Do people value the same information differently based on who generated it (algorithms vs. humans)? Does consumers’ attitudes towards a company change based on who interacts with them (humans vs. AI)? What do people think about algorithmic (human) decision-makers? Can algorithms be creative? My research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these dynamics involved in the transfer and valuation of information between humans and these technologies, as well as a counter perspective on the pervasive technology-is-always-good or bad rhetoric in contemporary business literature.

As a side research interest, I also study prosocial behavior and morality. In one project, me and my colleague Gabriele Paolacci (Erasmus) studied how people choose between prosocial acts. For more information, please check our new article out.