Human-Agent Interaction and Imagination Expanding Society
Autonomous robots, information technology using voices and on-screen characters, automated bots on social media, and dialogue agent systems based on generative AI have become increasingly common in society. When humans observe the behavior of these autonomous systems, they do not perceive them merely as tools but "anthropomorphize" them, leading to conscious or unconscious expectations of social interactions similar to those with other people.
Artificial systems that are expected to engage in social interaction in this way are called "agents," specifically social agents, in contrast to tools. By examining how agents—social entities that intervene between people—can influence humans and by presenting agents tailored to specific usage scenarios, artificial systems can predict and recognize user behavior, and ultimately guide or instruct the user.
Our laboratory views these social agents as a means to expand human society and conducts broad research on them. There is a concept called human augmentation, which is a research field focused on expanding individual capabilities—enabling people to carry things they couldn't carry or think about things they couldn't think about. Various optical technologies assist humans in this way. Similarly, we want to utilize these social agents as a means to expand and supplement the capabilities of society. For example, by adopting formats such as teaching a social agent or competing with one, human understanding is further promoted. In the laboratory, we analyze interactions between humans and the agents they perceive through interpersonal experiments. At the same time, we combine sensors, actuators, and programs to create new agent systems that intervene between people and systems, exploring the ideal form of artificial systems that will play an active role in future society.
At the same time, when discussing the application of such agent systems, we conduct research on SF prototyping to examine future visions using science fiction (SF). This allows us to consider ethics, values, care for vulnerable people, and necessary issues that must be kept in mind. Robots and AI agents were once fields where SF imagination led the way, but research inspired by that imagination is now becoming a reality. Building on this, our laboratory's goal is to further advance the future of society through fiction combined with realistic scientific knowledge and technology.