  Recent developments in explainable artificial intelligence promise the
potential to transform human-robot interaction: Explanations of robot decisions
could affect user perceptions, justify their reliability, and increase trust.
However, the effects on human perceptions of robots that explain their
decisions have not been studied thoroughly. To analyze the effect of
explainable robots, we conduct a study in which two simulated robots play a
competitive board game. While one robot explains its moves, the other robot
only announces them. Providing explanations for its actions was not sufficient
to change the perceived competence, intelligence, likeability or safety ratings
of the robot. However, the results show that the robot that explains its moves
is perceived as more lively and human-like. This study demonstrates the need
for and potential of explainable human-robot interaction and the wider
assessment of its effects as a novel research direction.
