Jakub Mlynář, Andreas Liesenfeld, Lynn de Renata Topinková, Wyke Stommel, Lynn de Rijk and Saul Albert for the 6th Multimodality Day in Copenhagen: interacting with AI
The turn toward multimodality and embodiment in interaction research has given rise to a new terminology and representational schema in key publications (Nevile 2015). At the intersections of multidisciplinary fields, for example ethnomethodological and conversation analytic (EMCA) research exploring interactions between humans and “AI,” social robots, and conversational user interfaces, such methodological shifts are even more difficult to track . How do these approaches to the meticulous, naturalistic study of technologies in (and of) social interaction reframe the key terms, patterns, and practices that constitute AI as a field of technosocial activity? Widely anchored in the EMCA Wiki bibliography, we map this emerging field and report a bibliometric review of 90 publications directly relevant to EMCA studies of AI (broadly defined), including social robots and their components such as voice interfaces.
We noted that most of the works cited in the EMCA+AI corpus are classics of research on human interactions (Garfinkel, Sacks, Schegloff, Goffman), notably multimodality (Goodwin, Heath), human-machine interaction (Suchman) and S.T.S. (Latour). The most frequently cited texts are: the “turn-taking paper” of Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson (1974) (in 45% of the elements of the corpus), that of Garfinkel (1967) Studies (40%) and Suchman’s book (1987) (31%). Dealing specifically with AI from an EMCA perspective, the article by Porcheron et al. of 2018 on voice user interfaces is the most cited (11%). In addition to this one, two other texts appear as citation centers: the articles by Alač (2016) and Pitsch et al. (2013) on social robots and embodiment. The study aims to provide a starting point for a discussion on how concepts such as embodiment, action and interaction are shared, used and understood through the practice of academic citation.
References
Nevile, M. (2015). The turning point embodied in research on language and social interaction. Research on language and social interaction, 48(2), 121-151.