# AI Meets Austen: Towards Human-Robot Discussions of Literary Metaphor

## TL;DR

This paper presents a proof-of-concept for an embodied robot that engages readers in discussions about literary metaphors, demonstrating high participant engagement and potential for lifelong learning enhancement.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel robot-based discussion partner focused on literary metaphors, expanding AI's role in informal, lifelong learning settings.

## Key findings

- Participants rated interactions highly
- Robot facilitated engaging discussions on metaphors
- Potential for promoting lifelong learning

## Abstract

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing formal education, fueled by innovations in learning assessment, content generation, and instructional delivery. Informal, lifelong learning settings have been the subject of less attention. We provide a proof-of-concept for an embodied book discussion companion, designed to stimulate conversations with readers about particularly creative metaphors in fiction literature. We collect ratings from 26 participants, each of whom discuss Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" with the robot across one or more sessions, and find that participants rate their interactions highly. This suggests that companion robots could be an interesting entryway for the promotion of lifelong learning and cognitive exercise in future applications.