Marko Repo
Papers
8
Total Citations
124
H-Index
6
About
Marko Repo is a leading researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction and moral psychology, exploring how people perceive and judge artificial agents in socially and ethically charged contexts. His work centers on two key areas: the replicability of the uncanny valley effect and the moral psychology of robots in intimate and caregiving roles. Repo’s most cited paper (41 citations) critically evaluates the replicability of the uncanny valley phenomenon, challenging assumptions about how humanlike robots evoke unease. He has made groundbreaking contributions to the moral psychology of sex robots and nursing robots, demonstrating through large-scale experiments (total n > 2,000) that people’s moral intuitions diverge sharply between human and robot interactions—for instance, pathogen disgust influences judgments of human sex but not interandroid sex, while violations of patient autonomy by nursing robots are judged harshly. His two-part synthesis on moral psychology and artificial agents (2020) provides a foundational framework for understanding how evolved human cognition struggles to accommodate robots as a new ontological category. With over 120 total citations, Repo’s empirical and theoretical work is essential reading for anyone interested in the ethical design and social acceptance of AI and robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Evaluating the replicability of the uncanny valley effect41 citations · 2018
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- 4Moral Psychology and Artificial Agents (Part Two)8 citations · 2020
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- 7Moral Psychology and Artificial Agents (Part One)5 citations · 2020
- 8Evaluating the Replicability of the Uncanny Valley Effect3 citations · 2018