The Three Social Dimensions of Chatbot Technology

TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework analyzing chatbots across societal dimensions, emphasizing their roles in research, commerce, and personal interaction, to better understand their societal impact.

Contribution

It presents a novel dimensional framework for understanding chatbot evolution and societal roles beyond technocentric perspectives.

Findings

Chatbots serve as objects of scientific research.

They function as commercial tools.

They act as agents of intimate human interaction.

Abstract

The development and deployment of chatbot technology, while spanning decades and employing different techniques, require innovative frameworks to understand and interrogate their functionality and implications. A mere technocentric account of the evolution of chatbot technology does not fully illuminate how conversational systems are embedded in societal dynamics. This study presents a structured examination of chatbots across three societal dimensions, highlighting their roles as objects of scientific research, commercial instruments, and agents of intimate interaction. Through furnishing a dimensional framework for the evolution of conversational systems, from laboratories to marketplaces to private lives, this article contributes to the wider scholarly inquiry of chatbot technology and its impact in lived human experiences and dynamics.