Kavyaa Somasundaram

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Kavyaa Somasundaram is an emerging researcher specializing in human-robot interaction (HRI), with a particular focus on robot failures, intelligent disobedience, and the ethical dimensions of social robotics. Her work challenges conventional assumptions about robot perfection, arguing instead that failures are natural and unavoidable aspects of human-robot relations — and that understanding them is key to improving these interactions. In her most-cited paper, "Intelligent Disobedience" (2023, 10 citations), she explores how robots might appropriately override human commands in failure-prone scenarios, drawing on diverse definitions and classifications of failure across application domains. Her companion work, "The Imperfectly Relatable Robot" (2023, 7 citations), interrogates human expectations of robots through an interdisciplinary lens, examining how fictional portrayals shape public understanding and raising important ethical and methodological questions for researchers. Her 2025 follow-up (4 citations) extends this framework, critically reassessing the popular assumption that humanlike robot behavior is inherently desirable. Collectively, her publications signal a distinctive and thought-provoking research trajectory that bridges robotics, philosophy, and social science — making her a noteworthy voice for students and scholars navigating the evolving landscape of human-robot relations.