Public Acceptance of Generative AI Robots: A Cross-National Study of Perceptions, Emotions, and Attitudes Toward Regulation

Although the commercialization of robots equipped with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is advancing rapidly, comparative studies on public perceptions remain limited. This study analyzes online news comments to compare public emotional responses to GenAI robots and attitudes toward their regulation in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and South Korea (KOR). Across all three countries, GenAI robots were commonly perceived as “uncontrollable risks.” However, while the UK and KOR showed dystopian perspectives and strong demands for regulation, the US adopted a relatively protopian perspective balancing the technology’s potential and risks and has maintained a comparatively flexible regulatory stance. Notably, negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, and creepiness associated with anthropomorphism were especially salient in the UK. These findings suggest that national emotions and cultural contexts significantly shape AI regulation and governance. This study contributes to theoretical discussions on human–AI interaction and provides insights for cross-national policymaking.