Anthropomorphism is the tendency to treat non-human items as if they were human. Children 3–5 years (N = 139) were tested on their anthropomorphism of two favorite toys from home, with both explicit ...judgments (e.g., think, feel happy) and behavioral interactions (e.g., resource distributions). Parents reported on their child’s object attachments and anthropomorphizing behaviors at home. Children anthropomorphized objects with faces more than those without. Parents also reported that children attached to a toy with a face engaged in more anthropomorphism in their behaviors at home than those without. On the lab-based task battery, attachment status did not predict overall levels of anthropomorphism, although differences did emerge in the predicted direction on a small number of tasks, for both face and no-face attachment objects. The results of this exploratory study are discussed with regard to the diverse nature of anthropomorphism in childhood, and the role of context in eliciting this perspective.
•Examined preschoolers’ anthropomorphism of owned objects, with diverse measures.•Children anthropomorphized objects with faces more than those without.•Somewhat more anthropomorphism for attachment objects, specially in parent reports.•Anthropomorphism in childhood varies substantially across tasks and contexts.
Anthropomorphism in AI Salles, Arleen; Evers, Kathinka; Farisco, Michele
AJOB neuroscience,
04/2020, Volume:
11, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
AI research is growing rapidly raising various ethical issues related to safety, risks, and other effects widely discussed in the literature. We believe that in order to adequately address those ...issues and engage in a productive normative discussion it is necessary to examine key concepts and categories. One such category is anthropomorphism. It is a well-known fact that AI's functionalities and innovations are often anthropomorphized (i.e., described and conceived as characterized by human traits). The general public's anthropomorphic attitudes and some of their ethical consequences (particularly in the context of social robots and their interaction with humans) have been widely discussed in the literature. However, how anthropomorphism permeates AI research itself (i.e., in the very language of computer scientists, designers, and programmers), and what the epistemological and ethical consequences of this might be have received less attention. In this paper we explore this issue. We first set the methodological/theoretical stage, making a distinction between a normative and a conceptual approach to the issues. Next, after a brief analysis of anthropomorphism and its manifestations in the public, we explore its presence within AI research with a particular focus on brain-inspired AI. Finally, on the basis of our analysis, we identify some potential epistemological and ethical consequences of the use of anthropomorphic language and discourse within the AI research community, thus reinforcing the need of complementing the practical with a conceptual analysis.
How do we switch between "playing along" and treating robots as technical agents? We propose interaction breakdowns to help solve this "social artifact puzzle": Breaks cause changes from fluid ...interaction to explicit reasoning and interaction with the raw artifact. These changes are closely linked to understanding the technical architecture and could be used to design better human-robot interaction (HRI).
Robots are transforming organizations, with pundits forecasting that robots will increasingly perform managerial tasks. One such key managerial task is the evaluation and delivery of feedback ...regarding an employee's performance, including negative feedback. However, within this context of delivering negative feedback, we suggest that anthropomorphism—a factor most practitioners and researchers consider as a panacea for overcoming difficulties in human-robot interaction—can backfire. Drawing upon the theory of mind perception, we find that an anthropomorphised robot supervisor delivering negative feedback is more likely than a non-anthropomorphised robot to be perceived as possessing agency. This perceived agency causes perceptions of abuse to arise, which in turn leads to higher supervisor-directed retaliation (operationalized as powering down the robot supervisor; Study 1). These findings even extend to third-person observers witnessing the delivery of negative feedback, again culminating in supervisor-directed retaliation (Study 2). We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
•Anthropomorphised robot leaders giving negative feedback are seen as more abusive.•This arises due to anthropomorphised robot leaders viewed as having more agency.•Perceptions of abuse leads followers receiving the negative feedback to retaliate.•These findings extend to observers, who also retaliated against the robot leader.
Disembodied conversational agents in the form of chatbots are increasingly becoming a reality on social media and messaging applications, and are a particularly pressing topic for service encounters ...with companies. Adopting an experimental design with actual chatbots powered with current technology, this study explores the extent to which human-like cues such as language style and name, and the framing used to introduce the chatbot to the consumer can influence perceptions about social presence as well as mindful and mindless anthropomorphism. Moreover, this study investigates the relevance of anthropomorphism and social presence to important company-related outcomes, such as attitudes, satisfaction and the emotional connection that consumers feel with the company after interacting with the chatbot.
•Human-like cues increase perceptions of mindless and mindful anthropomorphism.•Social presence higher for human- (vs. machine-like) agent with intelligent frame.•Human-like cues increase company emotional connection levels in service encounters.•Social presence mediates effect of human-like cues on company emotional connection.
Today's culture of innovation has been hailed as an important step toward creating a sustainable nation. This is demonstrated by Malaysia's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Indicators. According ...to the ninth target indication, it highlighted about build resilient infrastructure, promote comprehensive and sustainable industry, and promote innovation. As a result, the implementer of this study's development of innovation in Learning and Teaching (PdP) is in line with the ninth goal, which requires for our country recommence to innovate and establish sustainable culture associated to the innovative product's. The Ceritera Kuih product is a storytelling innovation in the form of an interactive electronic book (e-Book) that represent anthropomorphism characters concept throughout the storytelling. This e-book was created using the ADDIE model, which consists of the following five steps: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The application of this innovation can assist students in fostering a culture of creativity when creating digital short stories by incorporating interactive features. The students are not only able to compose innovative short stories and learn about the digital literacy process, but they may also foster a culture of creativity through the production of recipe videos as a digital content (using Malaysian Kuih) in the interactive e-book.
This mixed-method investigation proposes and empirically tests a human-Artificial Intelligence (AI) relationship development model in the context of social chatbots. Utilizing data from ...representative populations and employing method triangulation, the study uniquely combines existing human-computer interaction theoretical concepts (Computers are Social Actors, Perceived Social Presence, and Parasocial Interaction) with interpersonal relationship theories (Social Penetration and Attachment Theories) to advance an explanatory model of human – AI relationship development mechanism. We identify AI Anthropomorphism and AI Authenticity as antecedents, AI Social Interaction as a mediator, and Attachment to AI as an outcome of this process, moderated by the AI usage motivations. Meaningful theoretical, managerial, and societal implications, as well as suggestions for chatbot designers and future research are provided.
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•AI anthropomorphism and AI authenticity are important drivers of relationships with social chatbots.•AI interaction intensity mediates the anthropomorphism - authenticity and chatbot attachment link.•Users with the dominant social motivation are more likely to develop attachment to chatbots
•Brand anthropomorphism on social media enhances consumer-brand relationships.•Social presence mediates the effects of brand anthropomorphism on social media.•Favorable effects of brand ...anthropomorphism remain after a brand transgression.
This study aimed to investigate the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships in a social media marketing context. We hypothesized that anthropomorphism on a brand’s Facebook fan page can strengthen the relationships between brands and consumers by yielding both social presence and a positive inference regarding the brand’s quality as a relationship partner. Our longitudinal experiment confirmed the effects of brand anthropomorphism on consumer-brand relationships on social media and the mediating role of social presence. The results suggest that when the anthropomorphized brand had relationships with consumers, a favorable attitude was shown toward the brand. Further, the participants perceived the anthropomorphized brand as a trustworthy relationship partner, giving more “Likes” for the posts from the anthropomorphized brand than those from the non-anthropomorphized brand. Further, the results confirmed that these favorable relationships were maintained even after the participants became aware of a brand transgression.
Service Robots Rising Mende, Martin; Scott, Maura L.; van Doorn, Jenny ...
Journal of marketing research,
08/2019, Volume:
56, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Interactions between consumers and humanoid service robots (HSRs; i.e., robots with a human-like morphology such as a face, arms, and legs) will soon be part of routine marketplace experiences. It is ...unclear, however, whether these humanoid robots (compared with human employees) will trigger positive or negative consequences for consumers and companies. Seven experimental studies reveal that consumers display compensatory responses when they interact with an HSR rather than a human employee (e.g., they favor purchasing status goods, seek social affiliation, and order and eat more food). The authors investigate the underlying process driving these effects, and they find that HSRs elicit greater consumer discomfort (i.e., eeriness and a threat to human identity), which in turn results in the enhancement of compensatory consumption. Moreover, this research identifies boundary conditions of the effects such that the compensatory responses that HSRs elicit are (1) mitigated when consumer-perceived social belongingness is high, (2) attenuated when food is perceived as more healthful, and (3) buffered when the robot is machinized (rather than anthropomorphized).
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