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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.

News & Events

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sHAI in the Media

sHAI Updates

Latest Publications

Smart Speaker Data Donations in Families:

The Project Rosie Perspective

Today, many families are finding themselves with the option to have their very own assistant at home in the form of a smart speaker. To meet the growing scientific need to better understand how families with young children use these devices at home, we showcase ongoing work that proposes a revised conceptualization of families' smart speaker use based on three important dimensions: how often the smart speaker is used (i.e., frequency), for what it is used (i.e., purpose), and by whom it is used (i.e., form) – so by the parent, the child, or by both together. Learning from first pilot data and the challenges we have faced, we offer preliminary conclusions and provide suggestions for future work.

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