Expanding on a 2007 study — called "Begging computer does not want to die" — a team of researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany has demonstrated that humans are easily manipulated by robots.

In the 2007 study, participants were tasked with switching the power off of a robotic cat — a task that became difficult once the cat began begging the participant to not turn it off. Now, the new study mimics the 2007 study, but this time with even more participants and a different robot.

In the current study, 89 participants engaged with a robot called Nao for the alleged purpose of helping Nao become more intelligent.

However, once the interaction was complete, some of the participants were asked to turn Nao off while the robot similarly begs the participant to leave it on.

Of the 43 participants faced with the decision to either turn the robot off or to leave it on while it begged, 13 honored Nao’s wishes, leaving the robot on. The remaining participants faced with the same decision took longer to make the decision than the participants who had not been exposed to the pleas of the robot.

The participants cited feeling sorry for the robot as well as worried that they were doing something wrong when asked why they hadn't turned the robot off.

Based on those interactions, the team concluded that humans can be emotionally manipulated by the robots.

The research is detailed in the journal PLOS ONE.