The Communication Gap in Between Humans and Robots

Abstract

The increasing integration of robots and AI systems into everyday life has made effective human-robot communication a crucial area of research. Despite the rapid advancement in AI technologies, a signif-icant gap persists between human expectations and the actual communicative capabilities of robots. This study  explores the factors contributing to this communication gap by combining a systematic re-view of literature with expert perspectives. Ten empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025 were analyzed, focusing on the core dimensions of trust, empathy, contextual nuance, and interaction quality. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five academic experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, and related fields to complement the literature findings. The results indicate that current AI systems face substantial limitations in emotional understanding, contextual interpretation, cultural and linguistic variations, and trust-development. Although robots can recognize patterns such as facial expressions and speech, they may lack human-like emotional understanding which limits the quality of interaction. Many experts have confirmed that misunderstandings or misinterpretations of-ten arise from the ambiguity in natural-language communication and an overreliance on language-only interaction. Overall, the findings suggest that technological advancements alone are insufficient to bridge the communication gap.