International Postdoctoral Fellowship (GFF-IPF)
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
October 1, 2020
End Date
September 30, 2023
Acronym
GFF-IPF
Status
ongoing
Keywords
Smart Personal Assistants
Affordances
Configurational Analysis
Description
Based on recent technological advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is predicted that Smart Personal Assistants (SPAs) such as Amazon`s Alexa, Google`s Google Assistant, and Apple`s Siri will run on 870 million devices by 2022. This significantly increases the exposure of many to this technology in both B2B and B2C settings, especially when taking the ubiquitous chatbots into account. These Information Systems (IS) provide assistance by engaging with users especially via natural language and have been promised to fundamentally change the ways how we perform tasks, consume services and products, and interact with our environment. However, SPAs face problems in terms of user acceptance and affordance actualization. SPAs represent a novel class of IS that are characterized by high degrees of interaction and intelligence. These capabilities may fundamentally affect how people interact with SPAs as for instance users perceive them as increasingly human and, at the same time, less predictable. Thus, we need to generate insights on how to actualize the affordances offered by SPAs and realize their potential to avoid disuse that would lead to unrealized potential due to the rejection of SPAs. In specific, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the affordances that SPAs provide and how they may contribute to the actual outcomes of SPAs.
Based on these gaps in research, the aim of this project is to reveal which affordances contribute to SPA outcomes and how we leverage affordance actualization. In particular, a configurational, as well as a dynamic approach, is needed for understanding better, how this novel class of AI-based systems is appropriated as a technology-in-use. Therefore, I am providing a conceptual approach for studying SPA affordances, empirical insights on how SPA affordances actualization contributes to SPA outcomes and how companies can manage successful affordance actualization.
To achieve these goals, the proposed Basic Research Fund project first aims to shed light on which affordances are actually offered by this novel class of AI-based systems. For the affordance identification, I intend to review an interdisciplinary body of knowledge to provide a better theoretical understanding concerning the affordances offered and how they relate to the material properties of SPAs. In addition, a series of focus groups are conducted to complement this theoretical perspective with a practical view. On this basis, the project aims to provide a configurational and dynamic account for SPA affordances and their relationship to SPA outcomes. For this purpose, a series of empirical studies are conducted. First, a condition-oriented study aiming to provide empirical insights on relevant SPA affordance configurations to achieve SPA outcomes such as satisfaction and effective use. Second, a case-oriented diary study is conducted to provide insights about the dynamics of SPA affordance configurations and their patterns over time. These empirical insights finally enable to organize affordance actualization of SPAs and to contribute to a successful SPA implementation. Taken together, this project contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a conceptual approach for studying SPA affordances and generating insights on SPA affordance configurations and dynamics of affordances over time. Moreover, the project contributes to theory and practice by providing design principles for SPAs that will be used.
Based on these gaps in research, the aim of this project is to reveal which affordances contribute to SPA outcomes and how we leverage affordance actualization. In particular, a configurational, as well as a dynamic approach, is needed for understanding better, how this novel class of AI-based systems is appropriated as a technology-in-use. Therefore, I am providing a conceptual approach for studying SPA affordances, empirical insights on how SPA affordances actualization contributes to SPA outcomes and how companies can manage successful affordance actualization.
To achieve these goals, the proposed Basic Research Fund project first aims to shed light on which affordances are actually offered by this novel class of AI-based systems. For the affordance identification, I intend to review an interdisciplinary body of knowledge to provide a better theoretical understanding concerning the affordances offered and how they relate to the material properties of SPAs. In addition, a series of focus groups are conducted to complement this theoretical perspective with a practical view. On this basis, the project aims to provide a configurational and dynamic account for SPA affordances and their relationship to SPA outcomes. For this purpose, a series of empirical studies are conducted. First, a condition-oriented study aiming to provide empirical insights on relevant SPA affordance configurations to achieve SPA outcomes such as satisfaction and effective use. Second, a case-oriented diary study is conducted to provide insights about the dynamics of SPA affordance configurations and their patterns over time. These empirical insights finally enable to organize affordance actualization of SPAs and to contribute to a successful SPA implementation. Taken together, this project contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a conceptual approach for studying SPA affordances and generating insights on SPA affordance configurations and dynamics of affordances over time. Moreover, the project contributes to theory and practice by providing design principles for SPAs that will be used.
Leader contributor(s)
Funder
Topic(s)
Actualizing the Potential of Smart Personal Assistants – Investigating Affordance Configurations and their Dynamics for AI-based Systems
Method(s)
Survey
Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Diary Study
Focus Groups
Division(s)
Eprints ID
247948
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Item type:Publication, Voice as a Contemporary Frontier of Interaction DesignVoice assistants’ increasingly nuanced and natural communication bears new opportunities for user experiences and task automation, while challenging existing patterns of human-computer interaction. A fragmented research field, as well as constant technological advancements, impede a common apprehension of prevalent design features of voice-based interfaces. As part of this study, 86 papers across domains are systematically identified and analysed to arrive at a common understanding of voice assistants. The review highlights perceptual differences to other human-computer interfaces and points out relevant auditory cues. Key findings regarding those cues’ impact on user perception and behaviour are discussed along with the three design strategies 1) personification, 2) individualization and 3) contextualization. Avenues for future research are lastly deducted. Our results provide relevant opportunities to researchers and designers alike to advance the design and deployment of voice assistants.Type:conference paperJournal:European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, The Influence of AI-Based Chatbots and Their Design on Users’ Trust and Information Sharing in Online Loan Applications(2021-01-08); ; ; Type:conference paper - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Disentangling Trust in Voice Assistants - A Configurational View on Conversational AI Ecosystems(2023); ; Bevilacqua, TatjanaVoice assistants’ (VAs) increasingly nuanced and natural communication via artificial intelligence (AI) opens up new opportunities for the experience of users, providing task assistance and automation possibilities, and also offer an easy interface to digital services and ecosystems. However, VAs and according ecosystems face various problems, such as low adoption and satisfaction rates as well as other negative reactions from users. Companies, therefore, need to consider what contributes to user satisfaction of VAs and related conversational AI ecosystems. Key for conversational AI ecosystems is the consideration of trust due to their agentic and pervasive nature. Nonetheless, due to the complexity of conversational AI ecosystems and different trust sources involved, we argue that we need a more detailed understanding about trust. Thus, we propose a configurational view on conversational AI ecosystems that allows us to disentangle the complex and interrelated factors that contribute to trust in VAs. We examine with a configurational approach and a survey study, how different trust sources contribute to the outcomes of conversational AI ecosystems, i.e., in our case user satisfaction. The results of our study show four distinct patterns of trust source configurations. Vice versa, we show how trust sources contribute to the absence of the outcome, i.e., user satisfaction. The derived implications provide a configurative theoretical understanding for the role of trust sources for user satisfaction that provides practitioners useful guidance for more trustworthy conversational AI ecosystems.Type:conference paperJournal:Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, “I Will Follow You!” – How Recommendation Modality Impacts Processing Fluency and Purchase Intention(2022-12-09); ; - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Alexa, are you still there? Understanding the Habitual Use of AI-Based Voice Assistants(2021-12); Voice assistants are a novel class of information systems that fundamentally change human–computer interaction. Although these assistants are widespread, the utilization of these information systems is oftentimes only considered on a surface level by individuals. In addition, prior research has focused predominantly on initial use instead of looking deeper into post-adoption and habit formation. In consequence, this paper reviews how the notion of habit has been conceptualized in relation to biographical utilization of voice assistants and presents findings based on a qualitative study approach. From a perspective of post-adoption users, the study suggests that existing habits persist, and new habits hardly ever form in the context of voice assistant utilization. This paper outlines four key factors that help explain voice assistant utilization behavior and furthermore provides practical implications that help to ensure continued voice assistant use in the future.Type:conference paperJournal:International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Towards a Trust Reliance Paradox? Exploring the Gap Between Perceived Trust in and Reliance on Algorithmic AdviceBeyond AI-based systems’ potential to augment decision-making, reduce organizational resources, and counter human biases, unintended consequences of such systems have been largely neglected so far. Researchers are undecided on whether erroneous advice acts as an impediment to system use or is blindly relied upon. As part of an experimental study, we turn towards the impact of incorrect system advice and how to design for failure-prone AI. In an experiment with 156 subjects we find that, although incorrect algorithmic advice is trusted less, users adapt their answers to a system’s incorrect recommendations. While transparency on a system’s accuracy levels fosters trust and reliance in the context of incorrect advice, an opposite effect is found for users exposed to correct advice. Our findings point towards a paradoxical gap between stated trust and actual behavior. Furthermore, transparency mechanisms should be deployed with caution as their effectiveness is intertwined with system performance.Type:conference paperJournal:International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, What do you mean? A Review on Recovery Strategies to Overcome Conversational Breakdowns of Conversational Agents(2021-12); - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Understanding the Design Elements Affecting User Acceptance of Intelligent Agents: Past, Present and Future(Springer Science + Business Media, 2022-01-04); ; ; ; Intelligent agents (IAs) are permeating both business and society. However, interacting with IAs poses challenges moving beyond technological limitations towards the human-computer interface. Thus, the knowledgebase related to interaction with IAs has grown exponentially but remains segregated and impedes the advancement of the field. Therefore, we conduct a systematic literature review to integrate empirical knowledge on user interaction with IAs. This is the first paper to examine 107 Information Systems and Human-Computer Interaction papers and identified 389 relationships between design elements and user acceptance of IAs. Along the independent and dependent variables of these relationships, we span a research space model encompassing empirical research on designing for IA user acceptance. Further we contribute to theory, by presenting a research agenda along the dimensions of the research space, which shall be useful to both researchers and practitioners. This complements the past and present knowledge on designing for IA user acceptance with potential pathways into the future of IAs.Type:journal articleJournal:Information Systems FrontiersVolume:24Issue:3Scopus© Citations 84 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Improving Students Argumentation Learning with Adaptive Self-Evaluation Nudging(2022-11-11); ; Scopus© Citations 24 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Value Co-Creation in Smart Services: A Functional Affordances Perspective on Smart Personal Assistants(Assoc. of Information Systems, 2020-03-09); ; In the realm of smart services, smart personal assistants (SPAs) have become a popular medium for value co-creation between service providers and users. The market success of SPAs is largely based on their innovative material properties, such as natural language user interfaces, machine-learning-powered request handling and service provision, and anthropomorphism. In different combinations, these properties offer users entirely new ways to intuitively and interactively achieve their goals and, thus, co-create value with service providers. But how does the nature of the SPA shape value co-creation processes? In this paper, we look through a functional affordances lens to theorize about the effects of different types of SPAs (i.e., with different combinations of material properties) on users' value co-creation processes. Specifically, we collected SPAs from research and practice by reviewing scientific literature and web resources, developed a taxonomy of SPAs' material properties, and performed a cluster analysis to group SPAs of a similar nature. We then derived 2 general and 11 cluster-specific propositions on how different material properties of SPAs can yield different affordances for value co-creation. With our work, we point out that smart services require researchers and practitioners to fundamentally rethink value co-creation as well as revise affordances theory to address the dynamic nature of smart technology as a service counterpart.Type:journal articleJournal:Journal of the Association for Information SystemsVolume:22Issue:2Scopus© Citations 111
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