1. Agents and User Interfaces
Marti Hearst
SIMS 213, UI Design & Development
April 29, 1999

2. Summary from Last Time
People seem to treat interactive computers as if they were social actors
What are the implications?
for design of UIs
for understanding social interaction?

3. Building Automated Agents
Computer scientists trying to build believable agents:
ignore the vast psychological literature on personality
assume representations need to be rich
need sophisticated natural language processing and intelligent interaction
need realistic graphics, movement, and behavior

4. Anthropormorphia vs Ethopoeia
Nass et al. distinguish:
human-computer interaction is fundamentally social
not anthropomorphic:
“tending to believe computers are like people”
human users behave as if computers were human, even though they know they are not
ethopoeia:
“assignment of human attitudes, attentions, or motives to non-human objects”

5. Laurel’s Definition (Brenda Laurel, Interface Agents: Metaphors with Character)
Anthropomorphism in this context:
Not the same thing as relating to other people
Rather, the application of a metaphor
metaphors draw incomplete parallels between unlike things
emphasize some qualities, suppress others
Two key anthropomorphic qualities wrt interfaces:
Responsiveness
Capacity to perform actions
What aspects of human-human interaction are left out?
Metaphor
of Agency

6. Using Character to Depict Agency
Drama and film capitalizes on our ability to draw behavioral inferences based on sparse character cues
We can understand/enjoy even one-dimensional characters
Stories are good only if out-of-character behavior can be explained causally

7. Using Character to Depict Agency
Benefits of representing capabilities of agents using characters:
leverages our abilities to make inferences about and predict likely behavior/choices
invites conversational interaction
doesn’t require detailed development of the agent
characters in GUIDES interface have faces obscured; focus instead on period costumes, hair style, and surroundings
can match the character to the user and/or the task

8. Agents vs. Direct Manipulation Debates
CHI 97 and IUI 97
Personified in Maes and Shneiderman
Can also be seen as AI vs. HCI
Main Issue:
How much should/can be in the user’s control, how much done “under the hood” by software?
Outcome:
They agree on a middle ground, that is more user-centric and user-driven.