Dr Justin Thomas is a chartered health psychologist, author and a columnist for The National
October 17, 2022
Last week our team, an international collaborative spanning four universities, published its latest research findings in the journal Informatics. Our project explored chatbots, those occasionally annoying computer programs that simulate conversation with human users. Led by Dr Mohammad Kuhail from Zayed University, we examined whether altering a chatbot's personality traits might make it more trustworthy, engaging and liked.
Such research is increasingly important, as these eager electronic helpers begin to facilitate more and more of our routine online transactions. Also known as conversational agents, chatbots are everywhere, from "celebrity" helpers such as Siri and Alexa to the multitude of nameless bots that pop up online offering unsolicited assistance.
Some of the earliest chatbots, however, pre-date the internet. Eliza, for example, was developed in 1966. This chatty piece of software was based on the communication style of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Eliza typically repeats back what the user said, while also posing an open-ended question. For example, tell Eliza that you hate her, and she will respond with something like: "I see. You hate me. Why do you think you feel that way?"
The fact that virtual assistants such as Alexa and Siri overwhelmingly have female voices could point to human bias during their development. AP
As an undergraduate psychology student, I would introduce some of my fellow students to Eliza as though she were an online human. These conversations might go on for several minutes before my naive classmate realised they were pouring their soul out to a bot.
Today's bots, though, are not trying to pass themselves off as humans. Generally, it's enough that they are polite and efficient and help us achieve our goals. According to a 2022 report by Gartner, a leading information technology advisory company, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for roughly a quarter of all organisations in the US by 2027. The same report suggests that 54 per cent of us are already regularly interacting with chatbots, typically in commercial contexts, for example, online shopping or travel bookings.
What are the psychological implications of our reliance on artificially intelligent chatbots? Does the fact that we are dealing with non-human agents make us less polite?
Research presented at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing in 2019 suggests that more than 10 per cent of our interactions with chatbots are abusive. Some people feel disinhibited when talking to a chatbot, using a tone and language they would rarely use with a fellow human. In the future, such chatbot abuse might not be so lightly tolerated. An article published in 2016 in the Harvard Business Review warns that cursing out an underperforming chatbot may soon become a workplace disciplinary issue. The article suggests that, at the very least, it represents poor leadership-by-example.
Consider also how the social development of a young child might be affected by regularly witnessing an adult verbally abuse a chatbot. One of my colleagues, a psychologist specialising in childhood development, expressed concerns that her young children were being rude and abrupt when speaking to chatbots. She now insists on "please and thank you" for bots too.
Another subtle psychological impact bots can have on us is to reinforce existing social stereotypes. For example, how best to represent the bot using a human avatar? What ethnicity? What gender?
In 2019, Unesco launched a policy paper titled "I'd Blush if I Could: Closing Gender Divides in Digital Skills through Education". The document warns that, as gendered chatbots become increasingly common, they have the power to entrench and reinforce existing gender-related stereotypes. The report draws attention to the fact that, by default, the English-language versions of Siri, Alexa and Cortana were all initially assigned female names and personas. More troublingly, even when faced with aggressive and abusive enquiries, these servile bots with female personas remained docile, agreeable and, occasionally, even flirtatious. About 91 per cent of those employed in Silicon Valley are male.
The radical prospect of the metaverse means humans should be thinking even harder about making the internet safe. AFP
On March 31, 2021, Apple updated its operating system and Siri no longer defaults to female. Regardless, how chatbots are represented remains a critical social issue. Furthermore, the metaverse (collective virtual/augmented reality) will introduce us to life-like, three-dimensional chatbots: slapable Siri.
Our research is a small contribution to understanding how we can make chatbot interactions more effective, human and humane. In our most recent study, we tinkered with chatbot personality, dialling up and down the levels of extraversion. We also did the same for levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness (the tendency to be careful, diligent and dutiful). Our usage context was academic advising, helping undergraduate students navigate college life. Personality mattered. All the chatbots were equally helpful. However, the students trusted and liked (intended to use) those with higher levels of extraversion and agreeableness.
As more of life is lived online, making the world a better place becomes synonymous with improving the internet, not speed and coverage, but content and culture. Interdisciplinary research is critical to this mission. This focus is more important than ever as we begin unlocking the potential of the metaverse.
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70') Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
RESULTS
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Winner: Shafaf, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer) 5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Noof KB, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel 6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe 6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle 7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami 7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Mekhbat, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
