As social robots increase in capabilities and become ubiquitous parts of the environment, there will be more conflicts between humans and technological agents. Conflict is not necessarily bad: it can provide opportunities for sharing information, calibrating trust, and establishing common situation awareness—provided the conflict plays out in a reasonable manner. Social robots should be designed to act in conflict with humans gracefully and artfully, in order to use conflict as a mode of communication, limiting the adverse effects of confusion, frustration, and deadlock.
