How would a family program their robot to understand sentimentality and attachment to objects? If it is programmed to wash dirty laundry but a late grandpa’s sweater gets washed or it is programmed to tidy but a child’s artwork is discarded- how can we properly communicate sentimentality? 

Although AI Robotics will come with certain programmed aspects, each will learn about the household it is living in. How will this nuance influence the way we run our households? Will families prioritize efficiency, control, privacy or reliability? How much will a household’s moral values change each robot?

If domestic robots store data over time, how will they change how we experience memory, nostalgia or the passing of time at home? Regarding Robotic Mortality, what happens if a robot is shut off permanently? How would the family be emotionally impacted and what can we do to prepare or mitigate?

With AI in your home, how does the nature of human relationships and the foundation of trust change? Would there be instances of reference to the data from a household robot in divorce court or custody hearings? How does trust in AI mirror human trust and what does it mean to trust a robot?

With AI domestic robotics increasingly providing care like preparing meals and helping with mobility, how does that change how we identify human to human care or define care in general? How does this impact relationships and family structure from pre-robot cohabitation to robotic integration?

Does the presence of AI in intimate spaces like bedrooms or bathrooms cross boundaries or does it expand the definition of our personal worlds? How do we reconcile the physical and emotional boundaries of privacy when living with machines that observe, learn and assist? Can they override commands?

How will the robots themselves develop when in the home and how will we relate to them differently as we live alongside them? Will they gain a sense of personhood independent of their family role? Will we ascribe personhood to them and humanize them? How might personhood development play out?

Could a robot being present evoke new arguments and blame? How might a robot respond to conflict when it is involved? For example: reprogramming or asking it to prioritize one family member’s tasks over another?  How will the robot pick up on subtle emotional cues and how might it react in a potential DV situation?

How might different generations within the same household relate to the AI and how will the AI navigate that? Children will grow up natively incorporating the robot into their lives while grandparents may be wary of issues. How will the robot be prepared to navigate a difference in comfort levels in the same home?

If a family moves into an apartment where a robot is part of the sale by the development company and they live alongside it for years and it learns their morality and needs, can they take it with them to their next home? If not, the next family would be getting a robot who understands the house but not the family.