17/06/2026
New paper out today. I’m Dr Kristyn Sommer, a developmental scientist, and I spent this study asking a deceptively simple question: do kids think robots are alive?
We showed children aged 4 to 10 six characters: a child, a dog, two robots, a teddy, and a box. Then we asked whether each one had a mind, feelings, purpose, and a sense of self.
Living things landed at the top. Toys at the bottom. Robots? Somewhere in the middle. More “alive” than a teddy, less than a pet.
The part I keep thinking about: that didn’t budge with age. We expected older kids to see robots as more toy like. They didn’t. From 4 to 10, robots stayed stuck in the in-between.
It turns out robots are genuinely hard for kids to place. And as they show up in more homes and classrooms, it’s important we keep this in mind!
newpaper research
Paper linked in bio. Sommer, Sweezy & Wilks (2026), International Journal of Social Robotics.