Robots, Wrasse, and the Evolution of Reciprocity

Due to its prominent role in human sociality, robotics researchers have increasingly considered to what extent reciprocity might be important in human-robot interaction, and whether it should be included as a design feature in social robots. However, very little has been said of the original function of reciprocity. Indeed, evolutionary biology has revealed that reciprocity evolved to foster cooperation among human groups, yet this fact has for the most part remained unexplored in the robotics literature. In this chapter, I aim to change that. Specifically, I examine what we know about the evolution of reciprocity in humans and consider to what extent this knowledge can weigh in on discussions about social robots. I argue that the evolutionary account of reciprocity not only helps deflect van Wynsberghe’s (2022) arguments against using reciprocity as a design feature in social robots; it also reveals that reciprocity is a more complex phenomenon than is currently represented in the robotics literature. Indeed, there is direct reciprocity and indirect reciprocity, and robot designers should take both into account if they want to most effectively enhance human-robot relations.