As people have been confined to their homes, the use of digital technologies to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues has become key.  WhatsApp groups have proliferated, Skype and Zoom conversations have taken the place of face-to-face meetings, and social media has become a crucial conduit through which we keep up with the news.

While such tools have been invaluable, it’s also been difficult keeping on top of the various conversations we’re having.  New research from Cornell University suggests that AI could play a role.

The study found that when people were having difficult conversations, they tended to trust AI-based systems to provide ‘intelligent’ reply suggestions in texts.  Indeed, they often trusted the technology more than the people they were conversing with.

“We find that when things go wrong, people take the responsibility that would otherwise have been designated to their human partner and designate some of that to the artificial intelligence system,” the researchers say. “This introduces a potential to take AI and use it as a mediator in our conversations.”

Automated response

The researchers suggest that AI could monitor our conversations and detect when things might be getting tense, and interject with some conflict-resolution strategies.

Smart replies are a growing feature of our digital systems, with the likes of Gmail and LinkedIn deploying them for a little while now.  The researchers highlight how these tools are changing how we communicate, with responses that are easier to type, yet not quite what we planned to say, fundamentally changing the course of our conversations.

“Communication is so fundamental to how we form perceptions of each other, how we form and maintain relationships, or how we’re able to accomplish anything working together,” the researchers say.

The researchers believe that as well as shedding fresh light on how people are interacting with computers, their work also provides some new avenues to explore when looking to improve human communication.

The paper suggests that AI-based technologies can form the conversational equivalent of a car’s crumple zone, which can help our conversations have the desired impact.

“There’s a physical mechanism in the front of the car that’s designed to absorb the force of the impact and take responsibility for minimizing the effects of the crash,” the researchers conclude. “Here we see the AI system absorb some of the moral responsibility.”