Looks like the Jedi and clone troopers aren’t the only ones who bond their robot sidekicks. Real soldiers show attachment towards their metal buddies who help them out of tough situations and who often save their lives, just like R2-D2 did for Anakin and Luke Skywalker.
According to Peter Singer, a leading defense analyst at the Brookings Institution and author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century:
“One of the psychologically interesting things is that these systems aren’t designed to promote intimacy, and yet we’re seeing these bonds being built with them.”
Singer discovered many stories about human soldiers feeling strong affection for their robots — especially on the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams where Packbots and Talon robots undertake the risk of disabling improvised explosives planted by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One EOD soldier brought in a robot for repairs with tears in his eyes and asked the repair shop if it could put “Scooby-Doo” back together. Despite being assured that he would get a new robot, the soldier remained inconsolable. He only wanted Scooby-Doo.
“It sounds silly, but you have to remember that he’s been through the most psychologically searing experience: battle,” Singer said. “That machine has saved him time and time again.”
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