Technology-driven Alteration of Nonverbal Cues and its Effects on Negotiation

TL;DR

This paper explores how recent technological advances enable real-time alteration of nonverbal cues in video communication, affecting negotiation dynamics and raising ethical concerns.

Contribution

It reviews state-of-the-art technologies for explicit and implicit manipulation of nonverbal cues and discusses their implications for negotiation and ethics.

Findings

Technologies can alter appearance and identity in real-time video.

Altered cues can influence negotiation perceptions and outcomes.

Ethical issues are significant and require ongoing attention.

Abstract

A person's appearance, identity, and other nonverbal cues can substantially influence how one is perceived by a negotiation counterpart, potentially impacting the outcome of the negotiation. With recent advances in technology, it is now possible to alter such cues through real-time video communication. In many cases, a person's physical presence can explicitly be replaced by 2D/3D representations in live interactive media. In other cases, technologies such as deepfake can subtly and implicitly alter many nonverbal cues -- including a person's appearance and identity -- in real-time. In this article, we look at some state-of-the-art technological advances that can enable such explicit and implicit alteration of nonverbal cues. We also discuss the implications of such technology for the negotiation landscape and highlight ethical considerations that warrant deep, ongoing attention from stakeholders.