Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Communication Technology and New Media (19)
- Engineering (12)
- Computer Engineering (11)
- Robotics (11)
- Psychology (5)
-
- Other Computer Engineering (4)
- Interpersonal and Small Group Communication (3)
- Social Psychology (3)
- Digital Communications and Networking (2)
- Education (2)
- Health Communication (2)
- Medicine and Health Sciences (2)
- Science and Technology Studies (2)
- Arts and Humanities (1)
- Civil and Environmental Engineering (1)
- Curriculum and Instruction (1)
- Digital Humanities (1)
- Diseases (1)
- Educational Methods (1)
- Educational Technology (1)
- Electrical and Computer Engineering (1)
- Higher Education (1)
- Human Factors Psychology (1)
- Instructional Media Design (1)
- Interprofessional Education (1)
- Journalism Studies (1)
- Mass Communication (1)
Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Other Communication
Beyond Human Bonds: Understanding Relationship Development With Humanized Ai Companions, Maria Nikolajczyk, Elisa Maier, Julia Prawitz, Leyla Dogruel
Beyond Human Bonds: Understanding Relationship Development With Humanized Ai Companions, Maria Nikolajczyk, Elisa Maier, Julia Prawitz, Leyla Dogruel
Human-Machine Communication
This study investigates the development of relationships between humans and Humanized AI Companions (HACs), focusing on the chatbot Replika. Drawing on interpersonal relationship theories, we explore how these relationships evolve, emphasizing the role of self-disclosure and communication. Through 12 in-depth interviews with Replika users we reveal that users perceive HACs as emotionally supportive, nonjudgmental companions, fostering meaningful bonds despite the AI’s lack of true reciprocity. Relationship development follows stages similar to human relationships, with self-disclosure playing a key role in deepening intimacy. However, the relationships are often asymmetrical, with users deriving emotional benefits without expecting mutual exchange. Technical limitations, such …
Tool Or Social Actor? How Ai Perception And Interaction Modality Influence Perceived Credibility Of Communicative Ai Over Time, Stefanie H. Klein, Sonja Utz
Tool Or Social Actor? How Ai Perception And Interaction Modality Influence Perceived Credibility Of Communicative Ai Over Time, Stefanie H. Klein, Sonja Utz
Human-Machine Communication
People increasingly interact with conversational agents based on artificial intelligence (AI) for a variety of tasks. While these communicative AI (comAI) systems often produce responses that are natural and engaging, the information they provide is not always correct and unbiased. This makes it essential to understand how users perceive the credibility of such systems. Drawing on data from four waves of a longitudinal survey (NT1 = 618, NT4 = 485), we investigated how active users’ perceptions of comAI as a tool or social actor and their primary interaction modality (text vs. voice) influence the credibility perceptions of comAI, both cross-sectionally …
Gender And Task Alignment Influences The Credibility Of Feminine But Not Masculine Ai Conversational Assistants, Joana Videira, David Deandrea
Gender And Task Alignment Influences The Credibility Of Feminine But Not Masculine Ai Conversational Assistants, Joana Videira, David Deandrea
Human-Machine Communication
The present study investigated how the perceived gender of AI conversational assistants and the tasks they perform combine to influence perceptions of AI competence, trustworthiness, and goodwill (i.e., credibility). Participants evaluated AI assistants that appeared female or male and varied in the task they performed (stereotypically feminine or masculine task). Findings did not support an overall preference for female AI assistants over male AI assistants. Rather, perceived AI gender interacted with gender stereotypes associated with the task performed to affect perceptions of AI credibility. Notably, AI perceived to be very feminine had the highest credibility when performing stereotypically feminine tasks …
10 Questions To Fall In Love With A Chatbot: An Experimental Study On Interpersonal Closeness With Large Language Models (Llms), Jessica M. Szczuka, Lisa Mühl, Paula Ebner, Simon Dubé
10 Questions To Fall In Love With A Chatbot: An Experimental Study On Interpersonal Closeness With Large Language Models (Llms), Jessica M. Szczuka, Lisa Mühl, Paula Ebner, Simon Dubé
Human-Machine Communication
Large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, are able to compute affectionately nuanced text, which can be deployed in online dating or power artificial companions. This study explores whether people can experience intimate interest and interpersonal closeness toward a potential human or AI partner, based on such text. In a mock matchmaking scenario, 307 participants rated 10 text responses to the Interpersonal Closeness Generation Task from the dating profile of their potential partner, unaware that all were LLM-generated. Surprisingly, the source label (human or AI) had no significant impact on intimate interest and interpersonal closeness. Instead, the perceived quality and human-likeness …
Two Years To Madness: A 30-Month Journal Of Human–Machine Communication And Second-Hand Reality, Andrew Prahl
Two Years To Madness: A 30-Month Journal Of Human–Machine Communication And Second-Hand Reality, Andrew Prahl
Human-Machine Communication
Drawing on a 30-month analytic-autoethnography of the first author’s journal as an earlyaccess OpenAI user, this study examines how sustained communication with generative AI affects everyday lived experience and identity. Inductive content analysis of 166 entries by independent coders is followed by theory-driven coding with the extended-mind and sensemaking frameworks. Three interlocking themes emerge. Enabled and Degraded captures the tension between new capabilities and efficiency versus creeping skill atrophy. Scary New World charts rising anxiety as productivity gains erode competitive and relational distinctiveness. The findings also show a growing, pervasive doubt about the human authorship of texts, images, and other …
Whole Earth Machines: Human-Machine Communication For A Green Transition, Klaus Bruhn Jensen
Whole Earth Machines: Human-Machine Communication For A Green Transition, Klaus Bruhn Jensen
Human-Machine Communication
The climate crisis of the 21st century represents an existential risk to humanity and biodiversity, posing essential questions of how communication may serve to coordinate mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. One recent response has been massive investments by governments and corporations in systems providing feedback on the state of Earth— Whole Earth Machines (WEMs). For human-machine communication (HMC) studies, WEMs invite sustained engagement with communication infrastructures as a key constituent of research agendas, beyond the interface encounters at the center of many HMC studies to date. The article presents a conceptualization and operationalization of WEMs as critical infrastructures …
Wired To Offend: Cancel Culture Meets Generative Artificial Intelligence, Andrew Prahl, Shanice Koh Jie Qing, Justina Tan Ann Qi
Wired To Offend: Cancel Culture Meets Generative Artificial Intelligence, Andrew Prahl, Shanice Koh Jie Qing, Justina Tan Ann Qi
Human-Machine Communication
Cancel culture has been limited to individuals and corporations being cancelled. However, AI is also getting cancelled, challenging our understanding of machine autonomy and cancel culture. This paper investigates how AI cancellation is discussed on X (Twitter) using a recent AI cancellation incident involving Nothing, Forever, an AI-generated parody of Seinfeld. Qualitative content analysis is performed on 734 relevant posts to extract the main categories dominating the discourse, including emotional expression, attitudes toward AI, and discussion of human versus AI qualities. The results provide insights regarding how people perceive the autonomy of AI and who is responsible for AI output.
Autonomy And Agency In Farming: Exploring Human, Machine, And Animal Dynamics, Ricarda Drüeke, Corinna Peil
Autonomy And Agency In Farming: Exploring Human, Machine, And Animal Dynamics, Ricarda Drüeke, Corinna Peil
Human-Machine Communication
Human-Machine Communication is reshaping the agricultural sector as digital technologies and automated systems transform farms into complex communicative environments. Farms, which serve as both workplaces and living spaces, uniquely integrate these technologies, yet their impact on farmers’ daily practices, labor, and decision-making remains underexplored. Through an ethnographic approach involving qualitative interviews and farm visits in Austria and southern Germany, the study investigates the interactions among farmers, automated technologies, smart devices, and animals. Using Actor-Network Theory, the redistribution of labor and agency in smart farming is explored. This analysis examines two forms of human-machine relations: the dynamics of automation and autonomy …
What’S In A Name And/Or A Frame? Ontological Framing And Naming Of Social Actors And Social Responses, David Westerman, Michael Vosburg, Xinyue Liu, Patric R. Spence
What’S In A Name And/Or A Frame? Ontological Framing And Naming Of Social Actors And Social Responses, David Westerman, Michael Vosburg, Xinyue Liu, Patric R. Spence
Human-Machine Communication
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally a communication field. Thus, the study of how AI interacts with us is likely to be heavily driven by communication. The current study examined two things that may impact people’s perceptions of socialness of a social actor: one nonverbal (ontological frame) and one verbal (providing a name) with a 2 (human vs. robot) x 2 (named or not) experiment. Participants saw one of four videos of a study “host” crossing these conditions and responded to various perceptual measures about the socialness and task ability of that host. Overall, data were consistent with hypotheses that whether …
Doctor Who?: Norms, Care, And Autonomy In The Attitudes Of Medical Students Towards Ai Pre And Post Chatgpt, Andrew Prahl, Kevin Tong Weng Jin
Doctor Who?: Norms, Care, And Autonomy In The Attitudes Of Medical Students Towards Ai Pre And Post Chatgpt, Andrew Prahl, Kevin Tong Weng Jin
Human-Machine Communication
This study adopts the combined TAM-TPB model to investigate attitudes and expectations of machines at a pre-career stage. We study how future doctors (medical students) expect to interact with future AI machinery, what AI usage norms will develop, and beliefs about human and machine autonomy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Wave one occurred six-months prior to the public release of ChatGPT; wave two occurred in the 6 months following. Three themes emerged: AI is tomorrow, wishing for the AI ouvrier, and human contrasts. Two differences were noted pre- versus post-ChatGPT: (1) participants began to view machinery instead of themselves as the …
Mediatization And Human-Machine Communication: Trajectories, Discussions, Perspectives, Andreas Hepp, Göran Bolin, Andrea L. Guzman, Wiebke Loosen
Mediatization And Human-Machine Communication: Trajectories, Discussions, Perspectives, Andreas Hepp, Göran Bolin, Andrea L. Guzman, Wiebke Loosen
Human-Machine Communication
As research fields, mediatization and Human-Machine Communication (HMC) have distinct historical trajectories. While mediatization research is concerned with the fundamental interrelation between the transformation of media and communications and cultural and societal changes, the much younger field of HMC delves into human meaning-making in interactions with machines. However, the recent wave of “deep mediatization,” characterized by an increasing emphasis on general communicative automation and the rise of communicative AI, highlights a shared interest in technology’s role within human interaction. This introductory article examines the trajectories of both fields, demonstrating how mediatization research “zooms out” from overarching questions of societal and …
Archipelagic Human-Machine Communication: Building Bridges Amidst Cultivated Ambiguity, Marco Dehnert
Archipelagic Human-Machine Communication: Building Bridges Amidst Cultivated Ambiguity, Marco Dehnert
Human-Machine Communication
In this commentary, I call for maintaining the archipelagic character of human-machine communication (HMC). Utilizing the metaphor of the archipelago or a chain of connected islands indicates that HMC entails a variety of islands differing in shape, size, location, and proximity to one another. Rather than aiming for conceptual unity and definitional homogeneity, I call for embracing a cultivated ambiguity related to HMC key concepts. Ambiguity in the sense of allowing these concepts to be flexible enough to be explored in different contexts. Cultivated in the sense of demanding resonance across individual studies and theoretical lineages to allow for cumulative …
Disentangling Two Fundamental Paradigms In Human-Machine Communication Research: Media Equation And Media Evocation, Margot J. Van Der Goot, Katrin Etzrodt
Disentangling Two Fundamental Paradigms In Human-Machine Communication Research: Media Equation And Media Evocation, Margot J. Van Der Goot, Katrin Etzrodt
Human-Machine Communication
In this theoretical paper, we delineate two fundamental paradigms in how scholars conceptualize the nature of machines in human-machine communication (HMC). In addition to the well-known Media Equation paradigm, we distinguish the Media Evocation paradigm. The Media Equation paradigm entails that people respond to machines as if they are humans, whereas the Media Evocation paradigm conceptualizes machines as objects that can evoke reflections about ontological categories. For each paradigm, we present the main propositions, research methodologies, and current challenges. We conclude with theoretical implications on how to integrate the two paradigms, and with a call for mixed-method research that includes …
Fight For Flight: The Narratives Of Human Versus Machine Following Two Aviation Tragedies, Andrew Prahl, Rio Kin Ho Leung, Alicia Ning Shan Chua
Fight For Flight: The Narratives Of Human Versus Machine Following Two Aviation Tragedies, Andrew Prahl, Rio Kin Ho Leung, Alicia Ning Shan Chua
Human-Machine Communication
This study provides insight into the relationship between human and machine in the professional aviation community following the 737 MAX accidents. Content analysis was conducted on a discussion forum for professional pilots to identify the major topics emerging in discussion of the accidents. A subsequent narrative analysis reveals dominant arguments of human versus machine as zero-sum, surrender to machines, and an epidemic of mistrust. Results are discussed in the context of current issues in human-machine communication, and we discuss what other quickly automating industries can learn from aviation’s experience.
Human-Machine Communication Scholarship Trends: An Examination Of Research From 2011 To 2021 In Communication Journals, Riley J. Richards, Patric R. Spence, Chad Edwards
Human-Machine Communication Scholarship Trends: An Examination Of Research From 2011 To 2021 In Communication Journals, Riley J. Richards, Patric R. Spence, Chad Edwards
Human-Machine Communication
Despite a relatively short history, the modern-day study of communication has grown into multiple subfields. To better understand the relationship between Human-Machine Communication (HMC) research and traditional communication science, this study examines the published scholarship in 28 communication-specific journals from 2011–2021 focused on human-machine communication (HMC). Findings suggest limited prior emphasis of HMC research within the 28 reviewed journals; however, more recent trends show a promising future for HMC scholarship. Additionally, HMC appears to be diverse in the specific context areas of research in the communication context. Finally, we offer future directions of research and suggestions for the development of …
Learning About Metadata And Machines: Teaching Students Using A Novel Structured Database Activity, Andrew Iliadis, Tony Liao, Isabel Pedersen, Jing Han
Learning About Metadata And Machines: Teaching Students Using A Novel Structured Database Activity, Andrew Iliadis, Tony Liao, Isabel Pedersen, Jing Han
Journal of Communication Pedagogy
Machines produce and operate using complex systems of metadata that need to be catalogued, sorted, and processed. Many students lack the experience with metadata and sufficient knowledge about it to understand it as part of their data literacy skills. This paper describes an educational and interactive database activity designed for teaching undergraduate communication students about the creation, value, and logic of structured data. Through a set of virtual instructional videos and interactive visualizations, the paper describes how students can gain experience with structured data and apply that knowledge to successfully find, curate, and classify a digital archive of media artifacts. …
Human-Robot Teaming Configurations: A Study Of Interpersonal Communication Perceptions And Affective Learning In Higher Education, Bryan Abendschein, Chad Edwards, Autumn P. Edwards, Varun Rijhwani, Jasmine Stahl
Human-Robot Teaming Configurations: A Study Of Interpersonal Communication Perceptions And Affective Learning In Higher Education, Bryan Abendschein, Chad Edwards, Autumn P. Edwards, Varun Rijhwani, Jasmine Stahl
Journal of Communication Pedagogy
Technology encourages collaboration in creative ways in the classroom. Specifically, social robots may offer new opportunities for greater innovation in teaching. In this study, we combined the established literature on co-teaching teams with the developing field of machine actors used in education to investigate the impressions students had of different team configurations that included both a human and a robot. Participants saw one of three teams composed of a human and a social robot with different responsibilities present a short, prerecorded lecture (i.e., human as lead teacher-robot as teaching assistant, robot as lead teacher-human as teaching assistant, human and robot …
A New Era Of Education: Incorporating Machine Teachers Into Education, Jihyun Kim
A New Era Of Education: Incorporating Machine Teachers Into Education, Jihyun Kim
Journal of Communication Pedagogy
This editorial briefly discusses the potential of machine agents in education that can assist in creating more positive and meaningful teaching and learning environments. Then, it introduces three articles, two empirical research studies and one research-based instructional activity, compromising a special section on “Machine Teachers in Education” of Journal of Communication Pedagogy. Collectively, these articles help us better understand the role of machines in education and facilitate intellectual dialogues.
The Role Of Vidura Chatbot In The Diffusion Of Knowcovid-19 Gateway, Kerk F. Kee, Prasad P. Calyam, Hariharan Regunath
The Role Of Vidura Chatbot In The Diffusion Of Knowcovid-19 Gateway, Kerk F. Kee, Prasad P. Calyam, Hariharan Regunath
Human-Machine Communication
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global emergency. Clinicians and medical researchers are suddenly thrown into a situation where they need to keep up with the latest and best evidence for decision-making at work in order to save lives and develop solutions for COVID-19 treatments and preventions. However, a challenge is the overwhelming numbers of online publications with a wide range of quality. We explain a science gateway platform designed to help users to filter the overwhelming amount of literature efficiently (with speed) and effectively (with quality), to find answers to their scientific questions. It is equipped with a chatbot …
Leveraging The Rhetorical Energies Of Machines: Covid-19, Misinformation, And Persuasive Labor, Miles C. Coleman
Leveraging The Rhetorical Energies Of Machines: Covid-19, Misinformation, And Persuasive Labor, Miles C. Coleman
Human-Machine Communication
The rampant misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates an obvious need for persuasion. This article draws on the fields of digital rhetoric and rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine to explore the persuasive threats and opportunities machine communicators pose to public health. As a specific case, Alexa and the machine’s performative similarities to the Oracle at Delphi are tracked alongside the voice-based assistant’s further resonances with the discourses of expert systems to develop an account of the machine’s rhetorical energies. From here, machine communicators are discussed as optimal deliverers of inoculations against misinformation in light of the fact that their …
Out With The Humans, In With The Machines?: Investigating The Behavioral And Psychological Effects Of Replacing Human Advisors With A Machine, Andrew Prahl, Lyn Van Swol
Out With The Humans, In With The Machines?: Investigating The Behavioral And Psychological Effects Of Replacing Human Advisors With A Machine, Andrew Prahl, Lyn Van Swol
Human-Machine Communication
This study investigates the effects of task demonstrability and replacing a human advisor with a machine advisor. Outcome measures include advice-utilization (trust), the perception of advisors, and decision-maker emotions. Participants were randomly assigned to make a series of forecasts dealing with either humanitarian planning (low demonstrability) or management (high demonstrability). Participants received advice from either a machine advisor only, a human advisor only, or their advisor was replaced with the other type of advisor (human/machine) midway through the experiment. Decision-makers rated human advisors as more expert, more useful, and more similar. Perception effects were strongest when a human advisor was …
Building A Stronger Casa: Extending The Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm, Andrew Gambino, Jesse Fox, Rabindra A. Ratan
Building A Stronger Casa: Extending The Computers Are Social Actors Paradigm, Andrew Gambino, Jesse Fox, Rabindra A. Ratan
Human-Machine Communication
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 …
Me And My Robot Smiled At One Another: The Process Of Socially Enacted Communicative Affordance In Human-Machine Communication, Carmina Rodríguez-Hidalgo
Me And My Robot Smiled At One Another: The Process Of Socially Enacted Communicative Affordance In Human-Machine Communication, Carmina Rodríguez-Hidalgo
Human-Machine Communication
The term affordance has been inconsistently applied both in robotics and communication. While the robotics perspective is mostly object-based, the communication science view is commonly user-based. In an attempt to bring the two perspectives together, this theoretical paper argues that social robots present new social communicative affordances emerging from a two-way relational process. I first explicate conceptual approaches of affordance in robotics and communication. Second, a model of enacted communicative affordance in the context of Human-Machine Communication (HMC) is presented. Third and last, I explain how a pivotal social robot characteristic—embodiment—plays a key role in the process of social communicative …