From Non-human to Human: Adult’s and Children’s Perceptions of Agents Varying in Humanness

Abstract

Abstract. While most interface agents have been designed from an adult perspective, the present paper compares adults' and children's views of agents that vary in their degree of humanness. Four synthetic characters ranging in appearance from non-human to very human (blob, cat, cartoon, human) were presented to adult and children perceivers and were evaluated with respect to their cognitive and emotional abilities. The visual appearance significantly influenced participants' ratings in both age groups. However, the pattern of results was more differentiated for adult perceivers as a function of the humanlikeness of the character. The findings suggest that children may rely less on human-like features in inferring agents' capabilities which are judged along simpler cognitive and social dimensions. Implications for the design of artificial agents are discussed.