Social brains meet robots: Perspectives on using artificial agents for investigating social and observational learning in humans and monkeys

Social interactions in human and non-human primates are actively investigated in psychology, primatology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. Experimental investigations of such interactions could benefit from using human- or primate-like artificial agents (AAs) as they promise a higher degree of control while partially preserving ecological validity. We discuss the potential of AAs for studying the aforementioned fields through the lenses of social and observational learning research. We highlight examples of experimental approaches for children and macaque monkeys and share our perspective on various AA features potentially relevant to building novel experimental paradigms for humans and other primates.