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About

Aki Koivula is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-technology interaction, social psychology, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on how people perceive, trust, and relate to robots and artificial intelligence. Koivula's most influential contribution, "Trust Toward Robots and Artificial Intelligence: An Experimental Approach to Human–Technology Interactions Online" (2020), has garnered 115 citations, establishing them as a significant voice in understanding how trust mediates human relationships with increasingly autonomous technologies. This work addresses a critical societal question as robots and AI systems take on roles traditionally performed by humans. Building on this foundation, Koivula has explored how people conceptualize robots both as tools and as workplace collaborators, examining how a robot's degree of autonomy shapes user attitudes — research that has attracted 44 citations and carries direct implications for workplace integration of robotic systems. Further work investigating how individuals' perceptions of others' robot attitudes and their own self-efficacy influence overall acceptance adds important nuance to the field. Together, Koivula's research provides a valuable empirical framework for understanding public readiness for an increasingly automated world.