"Every day, 19,000 people express their love to their voice assistants and 6,000 people in India even propose to it. The media often brings attention to these not-so-serious studies, such as one that found that 14% of male smart home speaker users in the UK desire a sexual relationship with their systems. This fuels the public discourse on how people really feel about these talking machines that are, at their core, simply circuits and wires.

But despite the fact that these machines are not human, a wealth of empirical research has shown that people tend to humanize them and treat them as social actors. However, just because someone says they love their AI-system, does that mean they are truly in love with it as they would be with another human? So, if people don't actually love their voice assistant but also don't see ""her"" simply as a tool, how do they perceive their relationship with conversational AI? And what can we learn from better understanding human-AI relationships?

Marisa will delve into the latest research on human perception of their relationship with conversational AI. She will share insights on the impact on design practices and the potential negative influence of social designs on human decision making, giving a glimpse into the future of human-AI relationships."

Marisa Tschopp: Friends with AI? It's complicated.

Friends with AI? It's complicated.

Exploring human-AI relationships reveals a spectrum from master-servant dynamics to viewing AI as friends, impacting usage.

People's perception of AI, whether as servants or friends, influences their purchasing decisions, from everyday items to luxury goods.

While humanizing AI enhances interaction, it also raises ethical concerns about vulnerability, data oversharing, and potential addiction.