The unfriendly user: exploring social reactions to chatterbots

This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of Alice, a chatterbot designed in order to elicit anthropomorphic attributions and emotional reactions from those who chat to ‘her’. The analysis is based on both transcripts of the interaction and user comments collected in a focus group. Results suggest that the introduction of explicit anthropomorphism in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a complex phenomenon, which could generate strong negative reactions from the part of the user. The finding also demonstrates the importance of placing the development of user interfaces within a social framework as the technology tends to establish relationships with users.