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Medical robots programmed to show emotions could sway patients without feeling anything

Study title: Machines that express emotions: from medical paternalism to machine paternalism?

As of the 2026-10-01 publication, the article describes that in medicine robots and AI machines are used that could be programmed to appear to express positive emotions such as joy, compassion and hope, despite not having emotions.

Read the study abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Machines do not have emotions, but they can be programmed to express (to appear to have) certain emotions. In medicine, robots and AI machines are used that could express positive emotions (joy, compassion, hope, gratitude, inspiration or awe) and priorities. Objective: To describe the main ethical implications of integrating the expression of emotions in machines used f...

By the Truvace desk1 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 30/100 — Commentary, opinion, or narrative review · 1 independent sourcePeer-reviewedTRV-2026-1035· cite & verify
Machines that express emotions: from medical paternalism to machine paternalism?
Hospital Universitari Doctor Peset, València 07 by 19Tarrestnom65. CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

In brief

This matters because simulating emotions in clinical tools raises ethical questions about autonomy and influence, framed as a potential shift from medical paternalism to machine paternalism, with uncertainty about how patients interpret simulated affect.

Main points

  1. Source states machines do not have emotions but can be programmed to appear to have them.
  2. Source states robots and AI machines in medicine could express positive emotions including joy, compassion, hope, gratitude, inspiration or awe.
  3. Title frames the ethical shift as from medical paternalism to machine paternalism.

The problem

Programming medical robots and AI to appear to have emotions risks creating machine paternalism, where simulated affect influences patients despite machines lacking real emotions.

The rundown

The source describes a current practice where robots and AI machines in medicine are used that could express positive emotions, listing joy, compassion, hope, gratitude, inspiration or awe.

It explicitly distinguishes real emotion from programmed appearance, stating machines do not have emotions but can be programmed to appear to have them, which underpins the ethical analysis of paternalism.

Sources

  1. Peer-reviewedScientific Electronic Library Online (Scientific Electronic Library Online)2026-10-01

The debate