Chatterbots - Crash Test Dummies of Communication

Abstract

This is a research of graphical multi-user communication environments. I have studied the interactive behavior of and between humans and chatterbots. First I will describe the emotional and behavioral impacts that a chatterbot can provoke in users as individuals and as members of a group. Sometimes it is not self-evident to recognize who in a chat room is a bot and who is human. This is due to the limits and possibilities of digital interface, which effects on conversations I will analyze in detail. Current interfaces seem to support comic chatterbots that are coarse caricatures in comparison to interactive characters that would have more discreet personality. Additionally I will describe two incidents that have shaken the discursive order of one particular community. As a conclusion of these cases and my notions about chatterbots I will end up emphasizing the importance of entertainment and drama in cyberspace as one of the reasons why people log on in the first place.