Equity – Fairness
The robot treats everyone fairly according to their needs.
Fairness in human-robot interaction concerns how robots treat users in ways that are appropriate to their individual needs, contexts, and circumstances. As robots move from controlled environments into homes, schools, and public spaces, fairness becomes a concrete design and deployment issue rather than a purely ethical consideration. A system may function technically well while still producing uneven experiences across users, depending on differences in ability, background, or how the system implicitly models its users. Fairness therefore plays a central role in ensuring that robots remain socially appropriate and widely usable.
In the framework of equity, fairness is understood as treating people differently when needed in order to achieve more balanced outcomes. Equity requires attention to demographic factors such as who the users are and environmental factors such as where the robot is deployed. These conditions can directly affect robot performance, for instance, differences in climate or infrastructure may influence maintenance frequency or reliability. Fairness, in this sense, is not uniform treatment but context-sensitive adaptation that ensures comparable quality of interaction across diverse settings.
Empirical and conceptual work in the field further illustrates how fairness is understood and experienced in practice. In one study, policymakers argue that "If you are capable to design a robot without prejudice, assumptions and bias, the robot will add value to education," a view also shared by industry representatives. The same study reports that children expect robots to "treat everyone equally" and not "have a favourite child," showing that concerns about bias are intuitive even for younger users. They also emphasise behavioural expectations, noting that robots should not "swear or bully" and should "be nice," linking fairness not only to allocation but also to conduct.
Design-oriented research further shows how fairness is affected by representational choices. When designers include anthropomorphic features, they must carefully consider how gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and other differences are represented, and how these design choices relate to existing power dynamics and stereotypes. Similarly, humanoid robots can inadvertently normalise or reproduce inappropriate representations of gender, race, social standing, or disability, even when such effects are unintended.
Together, these findings show that fairness in HRI extends beyond equal treatment in function: it also includes avoiding biased representation and ensuring that robots do not reinforce social inequities through their design or behavior.
Excerpts from the paper:
About the value "Equity"
Equity entails treating people differently based on the circumstances, to ensure an equal outcome. In contrast, equality – treating everyone the same regardless of their situation – did not emerge as a relevant value during the focus groups discussions. Indeed, the experts suggested focusing on equity as a key value. They noted that equity is closely linked to demographics (who) and the environment (where), which can significantly impact a robot's performance. For instance, the geographical location can influence how often a robot overheats and how easily it can be repaired.
About "Fairness"
This topic represents the positive connotations of equity. The robot treats all users fairly according to their individual needs and is sensitive to differences in physical ability, culture, and preferences. In addition, the experts suggested that robots could help reduce gender disparity, particularly in home settings, by taking on tasks like cleaning and cooking. This could ease the burden on women and promote a more balanced distribution of responsibilities.