Social robots are artificial agents communicating in a human-like way. These assistive technologies are surging particularly to address personal healthcare shortages while allowing aging people to stay in their homes. Social robots belong to a rapidly changing AI industry. Such innovation may adopt different diffusion and adoption processes due to the categorical ambiguity of these products; their features vary from those typical of an object (i.e., delivering food) to those typical of a human being (i.e., speaking with and answering to patients). Social robots combine product, service, and software elements, making them hybrid products categorized into alternative categories, fluctuating users’ attitudes towards these products. The paper draws on prior research on social robots, categorization, and innovation adoption and diffusion. The aim is to explore healthcare professionals’ perception of social robots’ adoption and diffusion, allowing us to understand how they view and handle their categorical ambiguity feature. Using the Delphi technique targeting experts with extensive knowledge of social robots and e-health practice, the results emphasize that even if the ambiguous nature of social robots may represent a barrier to their adoption, their categorical ambiguity is an opportunity to create interactive experiences that ultimately increase their acceptance and diffusion.

社交机器人是以类似于人的方式进行交流的人工代理。这些辅助技术在解决个人医疗保健短缺问题的同时，正在蓬勃发展，同时允许老龄化的人留在家中。社交机器人属于快速变化的AI行业。由于这些产品的绝对歧义，此类创新可能采用不同的传播和采用过程。它们的特征从对象的典型特征（即提供食物）到人类的典型特征（即与患者交谈和回答）各不相同。社交机器人将产品，服务和软件元素结合在一起，将它们混合在一起，将其归为其他类别，从而改变了用户对这些产品的态度。本文借鉴了有关社交机器人，分类以及创新采用和传播的先前研究。目的是探索医疗保健专业人员对社交机器人的采用和传播的看法，使我们能够了解他们如何查看和处理其类别歧义特征。通过使用针对具有丰富社交机器人知识和电子卫生实践知识的专家的Delphi技术，结果强调，即使社交机器人的模棱两可性质可能会阻碍其普及，但它们的明确含糊性却是创造互动体验并最终创造机会的机会增加他们的接受度和传播度。