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What Makes a Good Conversation? Challenges in Designing Truly Conversational Agents

Leigh Clark Orcid Logo, Cosmin Munteanu, Vincent Wade, Benjamin R. Cowan, Nadia Pantidi, Orla Cooney, Philip Doyle, Diego Garaialde, Justin Edwards, Brendan Spillane, Emer Gilmartin, Christine Murad

Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '19, Pages: 1 - 12

Swansea University Author: Leigh Clark Orcid Logo

DOI (Published version): 10.1145/3290605.3300705

Abstract

Conversational agents promise conversational interaction but fail to deliver. Efforts often emulate functional rules from human speech, without considering key characteristics that conversation must encapsulate. Given its potential in supporting long-term human-agent relationships, it is paramount t...

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Published in: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '19
ISBN: 9781450359702 978-1-4503-5970-2
Published: New York, New York, USA ACM Press 2019
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52477
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Abstract: Conversational agents promise conversational interaction but fail to deliver. Efforts often emulate functional rules from human speech, without considering key characteristics that conversation must encapsulate. Given its potential in supporting long-term human-agent relationships, it is paramount that HCI focuses efforts on delivering this promise. We aim to understand what people value in conversation and how this should manifest in agents. Findings from a series of semi-structured interviews show people make a clear dichotomy between social and functional roles of conversation, emphasising the long-term dynamics of bond and trust along with the importance of context and relationship stage in the types of conversations they have. People fundamentally questioned the need for bond and common ground in agent communication, shifting to more utilitarian definitions of conversational qualities. Drawing on these findings we discuss key challenges for conversational agent design, most notably the need to redefine the design parameters for conversational agent interaction.
Item Description: Received CHI 2019 Honourable Mention award.
Keywords: Conversational Agents, Speech HCI, Spoken Dialogue Sys- tems, Voice User Interface Design, Interviews
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Start Page: 1
End Page: 12

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