Perceiving Sociable Technology: Exploring the Role of Anthropomorphism and Agency Perception on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

With the arrival of personal assistants and other AI-enabled autonomous technologies, social interactions with smart devices have become a part of our daily lives. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to understand how these social interactions emerge, and why users appear to be influenced by them. For this reason, I explore questions on what the antecedents and consequences of this phenomenon, known as anthropomorphism, are as described in the extant literature from fields ranging from information systems to social neuroscience. I critically analyze those empirical studies directly measuring anthropomorphism and those referring to it without a corresponding measurement. Through a grounded theory approach, I identify common themes and use them to develop models for the antecedents and consequences of anthropomorphism. The results suggest anthropomorphism possesses both conscious and non-conscious components with varying implications. While conscious attributions are shown to vary based on individual differences, non-conscious attributions emerge whenever a technology exhibits apparent reasoning such as through non-verbal behavior like peer-to-peer mirroring or verbal paralinguistic and backchanneling cues. Anthropomorphism has been shown to affect users’ self-perceptions, perceptions of the technology, how users interact with the technology, and the users’ performance. Examples include changes in a users’ trust on the technology, conformity effects, bonding, and displays of empathy. I argue these effects emerge from changes in users’ perceived agency, and their self- and social- identity similarly to interactions between humans. Afterwards, I critically examine current theories on anthropomorphism and present propositions about its nature based on the results of the empirical literature. Subsequently, I introduce a two-factor model of anthropomorphism that proposes how an individual anthropomorphizes a technology is dependent on how the technology was initially perceived (top-down and rational or bottom-up and automatic), and whether it exhibits a capacity for agency or experience. I propose that where a technology lays along this spectrum determines how individuals relates to it, creating shared agency effects, or changing the users’ social identity. For this reason, anthropomorphism is a powerful tool that can be leveraged to support future interactions with smart technologies

Effects of Victim Gendering and Humanness on People’s Responses to the Physical Abuse of Humanlike Agents

With the deployment of robots in public realms, researchers are seeing more cases of abusive disinhibition towards robots. Because robots embody gendered identities, poor navigation of antisocial dynamics may reinforce or exacerbate gender-based marginalization. Consequently, it is essential for robots to recognize and effectively head off abuse. Given extensions of gendered biases to robotic agents, as well as associations between an agent\u27s human likeness and the experiential capacity attributed to it, we quasi-manipulated the victim\u27s humanness (human vs. robot) and gendering (via the inclusion of stereotypically masculine vs. feminine cues in their presentation) across four video-recorded reproductions of the interaction. Analysis from 422 participants, each of whom watched one of the four videos, indicates that intensity of emotional distress felt by an observer is associated with their gender identification and support for social stratification, along with the victim\u27s gendering—further underscoring the criticality of robots\u27 social intelligence

A toy or a friend? Children's anthropomorphic beliefs about robots and how these relate to second-language word learning

This study investigates the degree to which children anthropomorphize a robot tutor and whether this anthropomorphism relates to their vocabulary learning in a second-language (L2) tutoring intervention. With this aim, an anthropomorphism questionnaire was administered to 5-year-old children (N = 104) twice: prior to and following a seven-session L2 vocabulary training with a humanoid robot. On average, children tended to anthropomorphize the robot prior to and after the lessons to a similar degree, but many children changed their attributed anthropomorphic features. Boys anthropomorphized the robot less after the lessons than girls. Moreover, there was a weak but significant positive correlation between anthropomorphism as measured before the lessons and scores on a word-knowledge post-test administered the day after the last lesson. There was also a weak but significant positive correlation between the change in anthropomorphism over time and scores on a word-knowledge post-test administered approximately 2 weeks after the last lesson. Our results underscore the need to manage children's expectations in robot-assisted education. Also, future research could explore adaptations to individual children's expectations in child-robot interactions

Older Chinese people’s attitudes and preferences towards technology and robots

The aging of the global population presents important challenges and opportunities for societies worldwide. Technologies and robots are promising tools in addressing the diverse needs of older people, with the potential to enhance their daily lives, healthcare experiences, and social interactions. Most research on the design of technologies and robots of older people has been conducted in Western countries, therefore, this programme of research investigated the use and attitudes of older people in China to technologies and robots. A first study explored young Chinese technologists' attitudes toward older people as users of and experts with technology. It found that they have ageist attitudes toward older people as technology users, although they do not have sexist attitudes. A second study examined older Chinese people’s attitudes toward current technologies they use and their attitudes toward new technologies and robots. It found that they hold positive and negative attitudes toward current technologies but they hold positive attitudes toward new technologies and robots. A third study investigated older Chinese people’s attitudes and expectations of three different robot types and found that older Chinese people hold positive attitudes toward task-oriented table and movement robots, while they hold varied attitudes toward companion pet robots. The study also found they have different expectations for the different robot types. A fourth study investigated older Chinese people’s attitudes to a pet robot (MiRo). The study found that older Chinese people hold positive attitudes toward MiRo both as a companion and assistant. This research contributes to understanding of young Chinese technologists' attitudes toward older people as users of technology. In addition, it has provided an insight into older Chinese people's attitudes toward technologies and robots, especially in relation to different robot types. Finally, it has provided an understanding of older Chinese people's attitudes toward robots for both companionship and assistance in daily life

A Review of Personality in Human Robot Interactions

Personality has been identified as a vital factor in understanding the quality of human robot interactions. Despite this the research in this area remains fragmented and lacks a coherent framework. This makes it difficult to understand what we know and identify what we do not. As a result our knowledge of personality in human robot interactions has not kept pace with the deployment of robots in organizations or in our broader society. To address this shortcoming, this paper reviews 83 articles and 84 separate studies to assess the current state of human robot personality research. This review: (1) highlights major thematic research areas, (2) identifies gaps in the literature, (3) derives and presents major conclusions from the literature and (4) offers guidance for future research.Comment: 70 pages, 2 figure

Between Fear and Trust: Factors Influencing Older Adults' Evaluation of Socially Assistive Robots

Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) are expected to support autonomy, aging in place, and wellbeing in later life. For successful assimilation, it is necessary to understand factors affecting older adults Quality Evaluations (QEs) of SARs, including the pragmatic and hedonic evaluations and overall attractiveness. Previous studies showed that trust in robots significantly enhances QE, while technophobia considerably decreases it. The current study aimed to examine the relative impact of these two factors on older persons QE of SARs. The study was based on an online survey of 384 individuals aged 65 and above. Respondents were presented with a video of a robotic system for physical and cognitive training and filled out a questionnaire relating to that system. The results indicated a positive association between trust and QE and a negative association between technophobia and QE. A simultaneous exploration demonstrated that the relative impact of technophobia is significantly more substantial than that of trust. In addition, the pragmatic qualities of the robot were found to be more crucial to its QE than the social aspects of use. The findings suggest that implementing robotics technology in later life strongly depends on reducing older adults technophobia regarding the convenience of using SARs and highlight the importance of simultaneous explorations of facilitators and inhibitors