I Get by With a Little Help From My Bots: Implications of Machine Agents in the Context of Social Support

Abstract

In this manuscript we discuss the increasing use of machine agents as potential sources of support for humans. Continued examination of the use of machine agents, particularly chatbots (or “bots”) for support is crucial as more supportive interactions occur with these technologies. Building off extant research on supportive communication, this manuscript reviews research that has implications for bots as support providers. At the culmination of the literature review, several propositions regarding how factors of technological efficacy, problem severity, perceived stigma, and humanness affect the process of support are proposed. By reviewing relevant studies, we integrate research on human-machine and supportive communication to organize, extend, and provide a foundation for the growing body of work on machine agents for support.

The theory of mind and human–robot trust repair

“…First, the existing literature acknowledges the need for machines to express emotions and sincerity to be effective communicators 105 – 107 . This is particularly important when machines are attempting to restore or repair relationships with humans after violations 106 , 108 , 109 . Scholars have sought to design robots to display emotions during communications with humans to overcome this issue 110 .…”

“…Scholars have sought to design robots to display emotions during communications with humans to overcome this issue 110 . Nonetheless, other scholars have argued that even with added design features machines are still likely to be perceived as being incapable of feeling or thinking 106 , 111 . The results of this study, however, bridge the gap between these two opposing views.…”

Credibility and altered communication styles of AI graders in the classroom

“…Machines and AI can offer social support to people as well. Interdisciplinary research suggests that people believe interactive machines can provide support in all kinds of situations (Abendschein, Edwards, & Edwards, 2021; Beattie & High, 2022), including education (Dhimolea et al, 2022; Edwards et al, 2022). For example, researchers using robot cats in an academic library found that even brief interactions between students and the robotic animals reduced self‐reported stress levels (Edwards et al, 2022).…”

Lean Study Host: Towards an Automated Pipeline for Multi-Center Study Hosting

“…The healthcare industry is evolving around innovative methods and emerging technologies, such as conversational agents, to improve the health and wellbeing of the population (Campbell & Jovanovic, 2021;Wang et al, 2022) and support the human social and psychological needs (Beattie & High, 2022). Furthermore, such agents support users during crisis and stressful events by providing information, emotional, and companionship support (Wang et al, 2022).…”