Sau-lai Lee

Carnegie Mellon University, Nanyang Technological University

Papers

Total Citations

363

H-Index

About

Sau-lai Lee is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction, whose work illuminates how people form mental models of robots and how these perceptions shape communication and moral judgment. Her key research areas include social robotics, human-robot communication, and the psychological impact of robot appearance and gender. Lee’s major contributions demonstrate that effective human-robot interaction hinges on establishing common ground—a shared understanding that facilitates efficient communication. Her most cited paper, “Human Mental Models of Humanoid Robots” (2006, 172 citations), reveals that people intuitively apply human-like expectations to robots, influencing how they interpret a robot’s knowledge. In “Eliciting information from people with a gendered humanoid robot” (2006, 155 citations), she showed that a robot’s gendered persona can affect users’ willingness to share sensitive information, such as dating norms. Lee also explored how robot appearance and perceived capabilities affect likability and occupational suitability, and she broke new ground by comparing moral judgments of robots versus humans, finding that transgressions involving robots are often seen as less severe. Her work has profound implications for designing robots that are socially adept, trustworthy, and ethically integrated into human environments.