Anthropomorphizing Voice Assistants: A Research Agenda for Human–AI Relationships
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Yolande Strengers
Abstract
Voice-based assistants (VBAs) are extensively embedded into many people’s lives through smartphones, smart speakers, global positioning systems, and other voice-enabled devices. User studies indicate that they can be helpful and accessible aids for completing everyday tasks; however, there is a growing body of concerns relating to their impact on society. Many of these relate to the anthropomorphization of VBAs, and, in particular, their presentation as deracialized and feminized figures, which are imbued with compliant service-based personas that commonly manifest in social robots. This chapter maps the key developments in research on the social implications associated with the anthropomorphization of VBAs, focusing on the intersecting themes of race, gender, and age-based inclusion across three areas of research on anthropomorphized VBAs. First, we identify the decisions and biases evident in the commercial imaginaries of VBAs, where controversies and diversities are erased or glossed over in order to promote an idealized and familiar future. Second, we explore how race, gender, and age have been mobilized in the design decisions of VBAs, which prioritize stereotypical traits in order to improve likability and usability. Third, we consider how anthropomorphized VBAs are encountered in everyday life in ways that both exacerbate and complicate commercial imaginaries and usability intentions. We draw on this analysis to outline the methods, approaches, and critical agendas for understanding the inclusion implications of VBAs. We conclude by calling for a focus on VBAs as a window into our future relationships with everyday AI and robotics.
Abstract
Voice-based assistants (VBAs) are extensively embedded into many people’s lives through smartphones, smart speakers, global positioning systems, and other voice-enabled devices. User studies indicate that they can be helpful and accessible aids for completing everyday tasks; however, there is a growing body of concerns relating to their impact on society. Many of these relate to the anthropomorphization of VBAs, and, in particular, their presentation as deracialized and feminized figures, which are imbued with compliant service-based personas that commonly manifest in social robots. This chapter maps the key developments in research on the social implications associated with the anthropomorphization of VBAs, focusing on the intersecting themes of race, gender, and age-based inclusion across three areas of research on anthropomorphized VBAs. First, we identify the decisions and biases evident in the commercial imaginaries of VBAs, where controversies and diversities are erased or glossed over in order to promote an idealized and familiar future. Second, we explore how race, gender, and age have been mobilized in the design decisions of VBAs, which prioritize stereotypical traits in order to improve likability and usability. Third, we consider how anthropomorphized VBAs are encountered in everyday life in ways that both exacerbate and complicate commercial imaginaries and usability intentions. We draw on this analysis to outline the methods, approaches, and critical agendas for understanding the inclusion implications of VBAs. We conclude by calling for a focus on VBAs as a window into our future relationships with everyday AI and robotics.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
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Section 1: Robots in Culture and Society
- Future Presence: Living with Social Robots 21
- Representing Robots in Popular Culture 47
- Designing Robots That are Accepted in Human Social Environments: Anthropomorphism, the Intentional Stance, Cultural Norms and Values, and Societal Implications 63
- Are Robotic Bodies (Part of) Social Bodies? 85
- Persons or Things: The Role of Robots in Society 105
- Automated Masspersonal Social Engineering 119
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Section 2: Humanistic and Social Scientific Perspectives
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Linguistics
- AI and Human Writing: Collaboration or Appropriation? 137
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Law
- Policies, Regulation, and Legal Perspectives on Social Robots 161
- How Social Robots Affect Privacy: Navigating the Landscape 179
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Sociology
- Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Evolution of the Social Sciences 203
- Human Interactions With (Embodied) AI: The Future of Authenticity in Human–AI Relation(ship)s 221
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Psychology and Neuroscience
- Mind Perception During and After Interacting with Artificial Agents 241
- How People Perceive Social Robots: The Case of Gender 261
- Relating with Social Robots: Issues of Sex, Love, Intimacy, Emotion, Attachment, and Companionship 277
- Real or Pretend? How Children Ontologize Social Robots as Mental and Moral Others 295
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Communication and Computer Sciences
- Rethinking Communication between Humans and Social Robots 313
- Interacting with Social Robots: The Influence of their Distinctive Cues, Behavioral Capabilities, and Affordances on Social Interaction and Well-being 335
- Integrating Big-Data Tools to Study AI and Human–Machine Communication: Methodology Strengths, Future Directions, and Applications 355
- Social Robots and Children: A Field in Development 371
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Section 3: Contexts of Human–Robot Interaction
- Anthropomorphizing Voice Assistants: A Research Agenda for Human–AI Relationships 391
- Domestic Appliances and Household Robots: The Changing Landscape of Housework and Family 411
- Ability and Disability: Social Robots and Accessibility, Disability Justice, and the Socially Constructed Normal Body 429
- Growing Old Together: The Promise and Challenge of Social Robots for Older Adults 447
- Power and Synchrony in Human Collaboration with Exoskeletons 467
- Index 489
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1: Robots in Culture and Society
- Future Presence: Living with Social Robots 21
- Representing Robots in Popular Culture 47
- Designing Robots That are Accepted in Human Social Environments: Anthropomorphism, the Intentional Stance, Cultural Norms and Values, and Societal Implications 63
- Are Robotic Bodies (Part of) Social Bodies? 85
- Persons or Things: The Role of Robots in Society 105
- Automated Masspersonal Social Engineering 119
-
Section 2: Humanistic and Social Scientific Perspectives
-
Linguistics
- AI and Human Writing: Collaboration or Appropriation? 137
-
Law
- Policies, Regulation, and Legal Perspectives on Social Robots 161
- How Social Robots Affect Privacy: Navigating the Landscape 179
-
Sociology
- Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Evolution of the Social Sciences 203
- Human Interactions With (Embodied) AI: The Future of Authenticity in Human–AI Relation(ship)s 221
-
Psychology and Neuroscience
- Mind Perception During and After Interacting with Artificial Agents 241
- How People Perceive Social Robots: The Case of Gender 261
- Relating with Social Robots: Issues of Sex, Love, Intimacy, Emotion, Attachment, and Companionship 277
- Real or Pretend? How Children Ontologize Social Robots as Mental and Moral Others 295
-
Communication and Computer Sciences
- Rethinking Communication between Humans and Social Robots 313
- Interacting with Social Robots: The Influence of their Distinctive Cues, Behavioral Capabilities, and Affordances on Social Interaction and Well-being 335
- Integrating Big-Data Tools to Study AI and Human–Machine Communication: Methodology Strengths, Future Directions, and Applications 355
- Social Robots and Children: A Field in Development 371
-
Section 3: Contexts of Human–Robot Interaction
- Anthropomorphizing Voice Assistants: A Research Agenda for Human–AI Relationships 391
- Domestic Appliances and Household Robots: The Changing Landscape of Housework and Family 411
- Ability and Disability: Social Robots and Accessibility, Disability Justice, and the Socially Constructed Normal Body 429
- Growing Old Together: The Promise and Challenge of Social Robots for Older Adults 447
- Power and Synchrony in Human Collaboration with Exoskeletons 467
- Index 489
