We investigate youths’ conceptualization of social robots. Informed by Schudson’s theory of the
potency of the cultural object, we conducted two studies. The first study centered on essays on
social robots written by bachelor’s and master’s students. The second study centered on prototypes
of social robots built by small groups comprised of same students. The essays and prototypes were
content analyzed. The results confirm that social robots embody all five dimensions that
characterize cultural objects. However, to fully understand this peculiar cultural object, another
dimension needs to be introduced: dynamicity.
