Theory of Robot Communication: I. The Medium is the Communication Partner
This addresses the need for updated communication theories as social robots become more prevalent, though it is incremental by proposing an addition rather than a full paradigm shift.
The paper examines whether existing Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) theories apply to human interactions with autonomous robots, arguing for an extension of CMC theory when robots act as communication partners.
When people use electronic media for their communication, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) theories describe the social and communicative aspects of people's interpersonal transactions. When people interact via a remote-controlled robot, many of the CMC theses hold. Yet, what if people communicate with a conversation robot that is (partly) autonomous? Do the same theories apply? This paper discusses CMC theories in confrontation with observations and research data gained from human-robot communication. As a result, I argue for an addition to CMC theorizing when the robot as a medium itself becomes the communication partner. In view of the rise of social robots in coming years, I define the theoretical precepts of a possible next step in CMC, which I elaborate in a second paper.