social valence

From valence in the sociological sense of value.

social valence (uncountable)

1. The quality of a robot or other artificial entity to be perceived as more than an object, but as a social agent, like a pet or a person.
   • 2014, Ryan Calo, Robotics and the Lessons of Cyberlaw in: California Law Review, Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 513-63 (2015)‎, page 532:

     Finally, robots, more so than other technology in our lives, have a social valence. They feel different to us, more like living agents.

   • 2015, Daniela Hernandez, Let’s not ban sex robots just yet, adriancheok.info

     We interact with them in ways that we don’t with inanimate appliances. (...) We do this because robots have what experts call “social valence,” meaning we ascribe to them human qualities, like personality.