Learning from a Generative AI Predecessor -- The Many Motivations for Interacting with Conversational Agents
This research addresses the problem of designing engaging conversational AI for developers and companies, but it is incremental as it builds on prior work with virtual companions.
The study investigated what motivated millions of users to engage with conversational agents like Microsoft's Zo, identifying over a dozen motivations through analysis of 2000 anonymized chat logs, and suggests that generative AI could benefit from increased engagement despite high costs.
For generative AI to succeed, how engaging a conversationalist must it be? For almost sixty years, some conversational agents have responded to any question or comment to keep a conversation going. In recent years, several utilized machine learning or sophisticated language processing, such as Tay, Xiaoice, Zo, Hugging Face, Kuki, and Replika. Unlike generative AI, they focused on engagement, not expertise. Millions of people were motivated to engage with them. What were the attractions? Will generative AI do better if it is equally engaging, or should it be less engaging? Prior to the emergence of generative AI, we conducted a large-scale quantitative and qualitative analysis to learn what motivated millions of people to engage with one such 'virtual companion,' Microsoft's Zo. We examined the complete chat logs of 2000 anonymized people. We identified over a dozen motivations that people had for interacting with this software. Designers learned different ways to increase engagement. Generative conversational AI does not yet have a clear revenue model to address its high cost. It might benefit from being more engaging, even as it supports productivity and creativity. Our study and analysis point to opportunities and challenges.