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The
Social Human-Agent Interactions (sHAI)
Group

Our research

Technology is being developed at an incredible pace, yet many questions about our social interaction with technology remain unanswered. We interact with chatbots on an almost daily basis, but why do we sometimes feel like we are talking to an actual human instead of a machine? Robots are used by the army to detonate explosives, but what if we start to feel upset or guilty when they get destroyed? Self-driving cars seem incredibly promising, but can we trust them to make moral decisions? The sHAI Group, first established at Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), aims to investigate such interactions in an interdisciplinary manner: we combine insights from computer science, artificial intelligence, robotics, psychology, communication science, and cognitive science. More information on our group members, their projects, and publications can be found below.

Image by Aleksandr Popov

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Media & Updates

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Latest Publications

What does the news say about Siri, Alexa, and co.? A topic model network analysis of Dutch news messages about virtual assistants between 2011 and 2022

News media can shape public perceptions of technology and meaningfully inform research on technology adoption. Yet, little is known about the news representations of a currently emerging technology: Virtual Assistants (VAs). By examining the Dutch news coverage (2011–2022; N = 2059) using the Analysis of Topic Model Networks, this study found that (1) news attention peaked in 2019 with a decline in the years thereafter (until 2022) and (2) discourse shifted from personal impact frames (niche interest) to societal impact frames (broader relevance). Findings inform media effect studies on VA adoption by illustrating what people might be learning about VAs.

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