Conversational AI agents are here to stay. Two out of three Americans reported that they interacted with conversational AI like Alexa or Siri in the last month or so. From virtual assistants to customer service chatbots and robot service providers, the number of these AI agents are rapidly growing, helping people navigate their lives. The app Replika which allows people to chat with a custom AI character has been downloaded over a million times, peaking in April 2020, right after shelter orders of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we move from human-human conversations to an increasing number of human-AI conversations, as the conditions of our world move us more toward remote and digital interactions, what are the new rules for engagement? 

We know that in human-human conversation, people rely upon interaction rituals to establish common norms and values. This class will explore new rituals emerging in the space of human-AI conversation, when norms are few, boundaries are undefined, and the “other” conversationalist (the AI) is not yet well understood. 

How can creators and designers develop this new kind of relationship in reassuring, empowering, and delightful ways? 

This class will explore this important question in the context of designing a conversational AI agent for enhancing wellbeing, in the specific area of mitigating loneliness. After learning some fundamentals in ritual design and key elements in AI character design, students will create their AI being, making specific choices in regards to its unique identity (such as name, backstory, aesthetics, and device). Then through dialogue crafting, we will attempt to establish some new rituals emerging in the field of human-AI conversation, to enhance the human experience. 

We will tackle questions of trust, identity, delight, personality, and more. Students will explore the impact that a range of AI personae would have on the conversation experience. For example, how “human-like” should the AI persona appear to be in its language and speech, before it hits the uncanny valley or sets up unreasonable expectations in the AI’s abilities?

Building off past ritual design classes and cutting edge expertise in the AI dialogue space, students will run through quickly, lively, creative design sprints. They will get the chance to prototype novel interactions in select contexts. They may also use photo and video storytelling tools to capture their design work. 

This is a prototype driven studio, meant especially for students interested in rich interactions and bringing playfulness and meaning to experience design. As this course will involve a heavy writing component, those interested in wordcraft and character development are welcome. We hope to encourage those who are interested in creating novel interactions, and who want to explore humorous, strange, magical, and curious ways to do so.

*What’s ritual design? Ritual design is a distinct approach to behavior design. It complements behavioral models and mechanics with its focus on beliefs, myths, values, and meaning-making in shifting human behavior.

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