Robot Demonstration Videos Should Include Transparency Disclosures

This position paper argues that the robotics and AI community should adopt disclosure standards for demonstration videos. As physical and financial constraints limit direct public access to embodied AI, public dissemination of progress in robotics is mainly through curated demonstration videos rather than direct experience with the technology. In a large-scale (N=9,341), pre-registered experiment across six countries, we find that the general public struggles to discern both the visual authenticity (e.g., distinguishing real footage from CGI) and behavioral authenticity (e.g., distinguishing autonomy from teleoperation) of robot demonstration videos. The omission of these details distorts public perception, leading people to overestimate the ability of robots to perform tasks and navigate real world environments. Using evidence from behavioral science, we design a disclosure intervention and demonstrate that the inclusion of clear disclosures in robot demonstration videos significantly improves discernment of visual and behavioral authenticity, as well as understanding robots' capabilities. Consequently, we propose the adoption of disclosure standards for robot demonstration videos to accurately calibrate public expectations and promote transparency in robotics research.