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Inartificial intelligence, anembodied agent, also sometimes referred to as an interface agent,[1] is anintelligent agent that interacts with the environment through a physical body within that environment. Agents that are represented graphically with a body, for example a human or a cartoon animal, are also called embodied agents, although they have only virtual, not physical, embodiment. A branch of artificial intelligence focuses on empowering such agents to interact autonomously withhuman beings and the environment.Mobile robots are one example of physically embodied agents;Ananova andMicrosoft Agent are examples of graphically embodied agents.Embodied conversational agents are embodied agents (usually with a graphical front-end as opposed to a robotic body) that are capable of engaging in conversation with one another and with humans employing the same verbal and nonverbal means that humans do (such as gesture, facial expression, and so forth).
Embodied conversational agents[2] are a form ofintelligent user interface. Graphically embodied agents aim to unite gesture, facial expression and speech to enable face-to-face communication with users, providing a powerful means ofhuman-computer interaction.
Face-to-face communication allows communication protocols that give a much richer communication channel than other means of communicating. It enables pragmatic communication acts such as conversationalturn-taking, facial expression ofemotions, information structure and emphasis, visualisation and iconic gestures, and orientation in a three-dimensional environment. This communication takes place through both verbal and non-verbal channels such asgaze,gesture, spoken intonation and body posture.
Research has found that users prefer a non-verbal visual indication of an embodied system's internal state to a verbal indication,[3] demonstrating the value of additional non-verbal communication channels. As well as this, the face-to-face communication involved in interacting with an embodied agent can be conducted alongside another task without distracting the human participants, instead improving the enjoyment of such an interaction.[4] Furthermore, the use of an embodied presentation agent results in improved recall of the presented information.[5]
Embodied agents also provide a social dimension to the interaction. Humans willingly ascribe social awareness to computers,[6] and thus interaction with embodied agents follows social conventions, similar to human to human interactions. This social interaction both raises the believability and perceivedtrustworthiness of agents, and increases the user's engagement with the system.[7] Rickenberg and Reeves found that the presence of an embodied agent on a website increased the level of user trust in that website, but also increased users' anxiety and affected their performance, as if they were being watched by a real human.[8] Another effect of the social aspect of agents is that presentations given by an embodied agent are perceived as being more entertaining and less difficult than similar presentations given without an agent.[7] Research shows that perceived enjoyment, followed by perceived usefulness and ease of use, is the major factor influencing user adoption of embodied agents.[9]
A study in January 2004 by Byron Reeves at Stanford demonstrated how digital characters could "enhance online experiences" through explaining how virtual characters essentially add a sense of relatability to the user experience and make it more approachable. This increase in likability in turn helps make the products better, which benefits both the end users and those creating the product.[10]
The rich style of communication that characterises humanconversation makes conversational interaction with embodiedconversational agents ideal for many non-traditional interaction tasks. A familiar application of graphically embodied agents iscomputer games; embodied agents are ideal for this setting because the richer communication style makes interacting with the agent enjoyable. Embodied conversational agents have also been used invirtual training environments, portable personal navigation guides, interactive fiction andstorytelling systems,interactive online characters and automated presenters and commentators.[citation needed]
Majorvirtual assistants likeSiri,Amazon Alexa andGoogle Assistant do not come with any visual embodied representation, which is believed to limitthe sense of human presence by users.[11]
TheU.S. Department of Defense utilizes a software agent calledSGT STAR onU.S. Army-run Web sites andWeb applications for site navigation,recruitment andpropaganda purposes. Sgt. Star is run by theArmy Marketing and Research Group, a division operated directly fromThe Pentagon. Sgt. Star is based upon theActiveSentry technology developed by Next IT, aWashington-basedinformation technologyservices company. Other such bots in the Sgt. Star "family" are utilized by theFederal Bureau of Investigation and theCentral Intelligence Agency for intelligence gathering purposes.[12][13]
Sgt. Star is the U.S. Army's dedicated marketing and recruitment chatbot, and he isn't going to turn whistleblower any time soon.
