No Cover Image

Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract 411 views 174 downloads

Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?

Mary Ellen Foster Orcid Logo, Jane Stuart-Smith Orcid Logo, Muneeb Ahmad Orcid Logo, Julian Hough Orcid Logo

Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces, Pages: 1 - 6

Swansea University Authors: Muneeb Ahmad Orcid Logo, Julian Hough Orcid Logo

  • 69918.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    Copyright © 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honoured. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s).

    Download (484.63KB)

DOI (Published version): 10.1145/3719160.3737615

Abstract

In daily life, we interact with each other using the social, regional, and ethnic communication styles typical of our local communities. Successful communication further rests on our ability to seamlessly adjust to our interlocutors following the norms and expectations of our local social setting as...

Full description

Published in: Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
ISBN: 979-8-4007-1527-3
Published: New York, NY, USA ACM 2025
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69918
first_indexed 2025-07-08T13:26:59Z
last_indexed 2025-09-05T06:12:08Z
id cronfa69918
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-09-04T12:38:50.2686601</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>69918</id><entry>2025-07-08</entry><title>Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>9c42fd947397b1ad2bfa9107457974d5</sid><ORCID>0000-0001-8111-9967</ORCID><firstname>Muneeb</firstname><surname>Ahmad</surname><name>Muneeb Ahmad</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>082d773ae261d2bbf49434dd2608ab40</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-4345-6759</ORCID><firstname>Julian</firstname><surname>Hough</surname><name>Julian Hough</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-07-08</date><deptcode>MACS</deptcode><abstract>In daily life, we interact with each other using the social, regional, and ethnic communication styles typical of our local communities. Successful communication further rests on our ability to seamlessly adjust to our interlocutors following the norms and expectations of our local social setting as well as conversational context and goals. However, despite significant advances in speech technology, most artificial speech systems&#x2014;particularly, most social robots&#x2014;still use a single, &#x201C;standard&#x201D;, non-local communication style for all users, social settings and interaction goals. Recent research has shown that when they interact with digital agents, humans transfer and adapt their sociolinguistic behaviours, including communication bias. Despite this, the barriers set up by this inherent communication bias have never been systematically studied for HRI; and the potential benefits to user engagement from socially inclusive, diverse communication styles have not been explored. We argue that social robotics researchers should also consider sociolinguistic factors constraining human interaction. To explore the implications, we describe two hypothetical robots designed to support the local communication style of two regions of the United Kingdom, and we consider the potential sociolinguistic impact each robot might have on its conversational partners and the wider society.</abstract><type>Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract</type><journal>Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces</journal><volume>0</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>1</paginationStart><paginationEnd>6</paginationEnd><publisher>ACM</publisher><placeOfPublication>New York, NY, USA</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint>979-8-4007-1527-3</isbnPrint><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords>Social robotics, Communication bias, Robots in public spaces</keywords><publishedDay>7</publishedDay><publishedMonth>7</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-07-07</publishedDate><doi>10.1145/3719160.3737615</doi><url/><notes>Extended abstract conference article</notes><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Mathematics and Computer Science School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MACS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-09-04T12:38:50.2686601</lastEdited><Created>2025-07-08T14:22:39.6451276</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Mary Ellen</firstname><surname>Foster</surname><orcid>0000-0002-1228-7657</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Jane</firstname><surname>Stuart-Smith</surname><orcid>0000-0001-7400-9436</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Muneeb</firstname><surname>Ahmad</surname><orcid>0000-0001-8111-9967</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Julian</firstname><surname>Hough</surname><orcid>0000-0002-4345-6759</orcid><order>4</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>69918__34701__1a0fd6ef24664c07b1fd5edd831806cb.pdf</filename><originalFilename>69918.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-07-08T14:34:06.2076739</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>496258</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>Copyright &#xA9; 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honoured. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-09-04T12:38:50.2686601 v2 69918 2025-07-08 Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People? 9c42fd947397b1ad2bfa9107457974d5 0000-0001-8111-9967 Muneeb Ahmad Muneeb Ahmad true false 082d773ae261d2bbf49434dd2608ab40 0000-0002-4345-6759 Julian Hough Julian Hough true false 2025-07-08 MACS In daily life, we interact with each other using the social, regional, and ethnic communication styles typical of our local communities. Successful communication further rests on our ability to seamlessly adjust to our interlocutors following the norms and expectations of our local social setting as well as conversational context and goals. However, despite significant advances in speech technology, most artificial speech systems—particularly, most social robots—still use a single, “standard”, non-local communication style for all users, social settings and interaction goals. Recent research has shown that when they interact with digital agents, humans transfer and adapt their sociolinguistic behaviours, including communication bias. Despite this, the barriers set up by this inherent communication bias have never been systematically studied for HRI; and the potential benefits to user engagement from socially inclusive, diverse communication styles have not been explored. We argue that social robotics researchers should also consider sociolinguistic factors constraining human interaction. To explore the implications, we describe two hypothetical robots designed to support the local communication style of two regions of the United Kingdom, and we consider the potential sociolinguistic impact each robot might have on its conversational partners and the wider society. Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces 0 1 6 ACM New York, NY, USA 979-8-4007-1527-3 Social robotics, Communication bias, Robots in public spaces 7 7 2025 2025-07-07 10.1145/3719160.3737615 Extended abstract conference article COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University 2025-09-04T12:38:50.2686601 2025-07-08T14:22:39.6451276 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Mary Ellen Foster 0000-0002-1228-7657 1 Jane Stuart-Smith 0000-0001-7400-9436 2 Muneeb Ahmad 0000-0001-8111-9967 3 Julian Hough 0000-0002-4345-6759 4 69918__34701__1a0fd6ef24664c07b1fd5edd831806cb.pdf 69918.VOR.pdf 2025-07-08T14:34:06.2076739 Output 496258 application/pdf Version of Record true Copyright © 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honoured. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). true eng
title Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
spellingShingle Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
Muneeb Ahmad
Julian Hough
title_short Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
title_full Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
title_fullStr Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
title_full_unstemmed Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
title_sort Aye, Robot: What Happens When Robots Speak Like Real People?
author_id_str_mv 9c42fd947397b1ad2bfa9107457974d5
082d773ae261d2bbf49434dd2608ab40
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9c42fd947397b1ad2bfa9107457974d5_***_Muneeb Ahmad
082d773ae261d2bbf49434dd2608ab40_***_Julian Hough
author Muneeb Ahmad
Julian Hough
author2 Mary Ellen Foster
Jane Stuart-Smith
Muneeb Ahmad
Julian Hough
format Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract
container_title Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
isbn 979-8-4007-1527-3
doi_str_mv 10.1145/3719160.3737615
publisher ACM
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description In daily life, we interact with each other using the social, regional, and ethnic communication styles typical of our local communities. Successful communication further rests on our ability to seamlessly adjust to our interlocutors following the norms and expectations of our local social setting as well as conversational context and goals. However, despite significant advances in speech technology, most artificial speech systems—particularly, most social robots—still use a single, “standard”, non-local communication style for all users, social settings and interaction goals. Recent research has shown that when they interact with digital agents, humans transfer and adapt their sociolinguistic behaviours, including communication bias. Despite this, the barriers set up by this inherent communication bias have never been systematically studied for HRI; and the potential benefits to user engagement from socially inclusive, diverse communication styles have not been explored. We argue that social robotics researchers should also consider sociolinguistic factors constraining human interaction. To explore the implications, we describe two hypothetical robots designed to support the local communication style of two regions of the United Kingdom, and we consider the potential sociolinguistic impact each robot might have on its conversational partners and the wider society.
published_date 2025-07-07T05:29:27Z
_version_ 1851097945600950272
score 11.089386

Similar Items