To Örebro University

In this short paper, we consider scenarios in human-robot collaboration where the robot relies on deliberation to activate communicative actions. We claim that reasoning about the perception of these actions is a key, but often disregarded ingredient for successful communication, and propose a pre-theoretical model that accounts for this. We also discuss the problems that may arise if perception is neglected when reasoning about communication.

As Artificially Intelligent systems are becoming more and more present in our surroundings, our ways of interacting with them are also changing. From commercial chatbots to home assistants and robot companions, machines are progressively taking up the role of “communicators”, provided with their own agency, and able to interact with their human counterparts in new ways. This workshop aimed at gathering experts in fields relevant to the study of AI systems as communicators, including but not limited to Human-Computer Interaction, Artificial Intelligence, Human-Robot and Human-AI Interaction. It was organized in order to discuss new challenges brought by this recent shift, compare methods and perspectives between different fields, and foster long-term collaborations.

In this position paper, we argue for the need for deliberation in communication for artificial agents that perform tasks together with humans. Existing works use a set of terms and concepts with different meanings, resulting in ambiguity which does not allow for a general framework. As an initial step towards such a framework, we propose the notion of deliberative communication, clarify the necessary concepts and terminology, highlight the capabilities required in using deliberation for agents that communicate with human users, and discuss the main challenges.