Interpassivity instead of interactivity? The uses and gratifications of automated features

ABSTRACT

The popularity of automated features, such as autocorrect, reflects an interesting paradox in digital media use: while users appreciate the interactivity afforded by these media, they also seem to enjoy passively observing the system perform the interaction on their behalf. We aim to understand this paradox by using the concept of interpassivity and exploring the primary gratifications users seek in automated features. Following the research methods in U&G research, we first conducted three focus groups to generate a list of 66 gratification items, which were subjected to exploratory factor analysis in a survey study (N = 498). Results show that convenience, user control, and user profiling are three distinct gratifications of automated feature usage. Furthermore, user control is universally desired across features, and user profiling motivates the use of all automated features. We discuss the implications of these findings for U&G research and interface design of automated features.

KEYWORDS:

• Automated features
• uses and gratifications
• affordance
• interpassivity
• human-AI interaction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Click https://osf.io/sybhx/?view_only=c595bf921ef64c6b86d6553e06b97c18 to access the pre-registration file for the focus groups on OSF.

2 Click https://osf.io/he7fw/?view_only=deb133e093bd4255a394c61814da20ff to access the pre-registered file for the survey study on OSF.