With great power comes great responsibility: inquiry into the social roles and the power dynamics in human-AI interactions

Abstract

As machines are becoming more interactive, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, the importance of interactions between humans and AI increases as a new type of communication. However, unlike most studies have examined the influence of AI on individuals, fewer studies about how human-AI interactions will impact society have been conducted. It should be acknowledged that we attribute social roles to AI when assigning social tasks, and there are power dynamics within an interaction between humans and AI because of it. Also, we should ask whether the current society is ready for AI to take responsibility for its actions. Finally, limitations on existing human-machine communication (HMC) studies, an unclear definition of AI as an interlocutor and a lack of theoretical frameworks, were pointed out with suggestions. It is expected that considering a machine’s social roles and powers in human-AI interactions will broaden the theoretical realm of HMC.

KEYWORDS:

• artificial intelligence
• human-AI interaction
• human-machine communication
• social role
• power dynamics

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joo-Wha Hong

Joo-Wha Hong is a Ph.D. candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, who studies artificial intelligence (AI) from a social science perspective. He is particularly interested in exploring how people cognise human-like programs, from intelligent personal assistant programs in smart devices to discriminatory artificial intelligence, and types of possible communication patterns with the machines. He published papers about how various performances by AI are understood, such as creating artworks and making unethical decisions.