Building a Stronger CASA: Extending the Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm

The computers are social actors framework (CASA), derived from the media equation, explains how people communicate with media and machines demonstrating social potential. Many studies have challenged CASA, yet it has not been revised. We argue that CASA needs to be expanded because people have changed, technologies have changed, and the way people interact with technologies has changed. We discuss the implications of these changes and propose an extension of CASA. Whereas CASA suggests humans mindlessly apply human-human social scripts to interactions with media agents, we argue that humans may develop and apply human-media social scripts to these interactions. Our extension explains previous dissonant findings and expands scholarship regarding human-machine communication, human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, human-agent interaction, artificial intelligence, and computer-mediated communication

Social Responses to Media Technologies in the 21st Century: The Media are Social Actors Paradigm

Clifford Nass and his colleagues proposed the Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm in the 1990s and demonstrated that we treat computers in some of the ways we treat humans. To account for technological advances and to refine explanations for CASA results, this paper proposes the Media Are Social Actors (MASA) paradigm. We begin by distinguishing the roles of primary and secondary cues in evoking medium-as-social-actor presence and social responses. We then discuss the roles of individual differences and contextual factors in these responses and identify mindless and mindful anthropomorphism as two major complementary mechanisms for understanding MASA phenomena. Based on evolutionary psychology explanations for socialness, we conclude with nine formal propositions and suggestions for future research to test and apply MASA

Do Embodied Conversational Agents Know When to Smile?

We survey the role of humor in particular domains of human-to-human interaction with the aim of seeing whether it is useful for embodied conversational agents to integrate humor capabilities in their models of intelligence, emotions and interaction (verbal and nonverbal) Therefore we first look at the current state of the art of research in embodied conversational agents, affective computing and verbal and nonverbal interaction. We adhere to the 'Computers Are Social Actors' paradigm to assume that human conversational partners of embodied conversational agents assign human properties to these agents, including humor appreciation

Criticism or Praise? The Impact of Verbal versus Text-Only Computer Feedback on Social Presence, Intrinsic Motivation, and Recall

The Computers Are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm asserts that human computer users interact socially with computers, and has provided extensive evidence that this is the case. In this experiment (n = 134), participants received either praise or criticism from a computer. Independent variables were the direction feedback (praise or criticism), and voice channel (verbal or text-only). Dependent variables measured via a computer-based questionnaire were recall, perceived ability, intrinsic motivation, and perceptions of the computer as a social entity. Results demonstrate that participants had similar reactions to computers as predicted by interpersonal communication research with participants who received text-only criticism reporting higher levels of intrinsic motivation, perceived ability, and recall. Additionally, the computer was seen as more intelligent. Implications for theory and application are discussed

Le processus d’acceptation d’un bot : Analyse du récit de vie de Salebot

International audienceThe consumer endorsing the role of producer can find solutions outside the framework of the organization. Thus, volunteer contributors to the content of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia setup a community that integrates non-human actors, bots. These autonomous programs have a social trajectory. Which can be likened to life for humans that have social interactions with this sort of artifact, as suggested by the CASA paradigm, "Computers are social actors" (Nass et al., 1994; Reeves and Nass, 1996). Through the life narrative of one such bot, struggling against malicious contributions, we explore the process of acceptance that makes it an actor acknowledged by the community.Le consommateur endossant le rôle de producteur peut trouver des solutions en dehors du cadre de l'organisation. Ainsi, les contributeurs bénévoles au contenu de l'encyclopédie en ligne Wikipédia forment une communauté qui intègre des acteurs non-humains, les bots. Ces programmes autonomes ont une trajectoire sociale. Celle-ci peut s’apparenter au sens d'une vie pour des humains qui ont des interactions sociales avec ce type d'artefact, comme le suggère le paradigme CASA, « Computers are social actors » (Nass et al., 1994 ; Reeves et Nass, 1996). Au travers du récit de vie de l'un de ces bots, luttant contre les contributions malveillantes, nous explorons le processus d'acceptation qui en fait un acteur reconnu par la communauté

Metaphors of Instrumental Computer Use: A Case Study

There are two metaphors for describing instrumental computer use: the computer as a tool, and a more comprehensive package metaphor that emphasizes all aspects of computer use (hardware, software, and social interactions with vendors and other actors in the computing world). Whereas the tool view of computing is concerned with the direct costs of hardware and software, the package view helps one estimate all costs -- social and technical -- of instrumental computer use. Data from a case study of two research laboratories that used computers for data collection provides empirical support for a package metaphor

The internet, E-commerce and older people: an actor-network approach to researching reasons for adoption and use

Many older people are discovering the Internet, and some are also making good use of electronic commerce and all that goes with it. Others, however, are not adopting these technologies. This paper questions why some older people adopt Internet technologies while others do not, and offers a research framework, based on actor-network theory, for investigating adoption of Internet technologies by older people. In this paper, innovation translation is used to illustrate how specific cases of adoption have occurred. Innovation translation presents a different view of innovation than the better known theory of innovation diffusion, but one that the authors argue is better suited for research in socio-technical situations like this

Social Influence in Customer-Robot Interactions

This paper focuses on social influence in customer-robot interactions. Drawing on social impact theory and the computers-are-social-actors (CASA) paradigm, we argue that customers\u27 reluctance to provide information to a service robot decreases when other customers exhibit high information disclosure. The effect of demonstrated information disclosure on customers\u27 reluctance to provide information is enhanced by the application of social norms. The results also show that social influence is stronger in customer-robot interactions than in customer-employee interactions. This article demonstrates the potential of social influence to reduce reluctance towards service robots, which has both theoretical and managerial implications. We extend existing research on the imitation of robot behavior with the imitation of user behavior, and discuss the ethical implications of customers mindlessly following other customers in customer-robot interactions

The institutional character of computerized information systems

We examine how important social and technical choices become part of the history of a computer-based information system (CB/SJ and embedded in the social structure which supports its development and use. These elements of a CBIS can be organized in specific ways to enhance its usability and performance. Paradoxically, they can also constrain future implementations and post-implementations.We argue that CBIS developed from complex, interdependent social and technical choices should be conceptualized in terms of their institutional characteristics, as well as their information-processing characteristics. The social system which supports the development and operation of a CBIS is one major element whose institutional characteristics can effectively support routine activities while impeding substantial innovation. Characterizing CBIS as institutions is important for several reasons: (1) the usability of CBIS is more critical than the abstract information-processing capabilities of the underlying technology; (2) CBIS that are well-used and have stable social structures are more difficult to replace than those with less developed social structures and fewer participants; (3) CBIS vary from one social setting to another according to the ways in which they are organized and embedded in organized social systems. These ideas are illustrated with the case study of a failed attempt to convert a complex inventory control system in a medium-sized manufacturing firm