The idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. From fears over killer robots in sci-fi dystopias, to driverless cars in real life, we are both inspired and horrified by the prospect of an advanced intelligence that is not our own. Could AI take over the world? Will it take all of our jobs? Has Google really created a sentient chatbot, and is AI racing towards human intelligence, or is it just horribly misunderstood? These common questions point us towards an unknown and troubling future. What we do know is that we are in the midst of a hype cycle, with huge amounts of funding and focus galvanising progress. Whether AI truly lives up to this hype remains to be seen, but this once niche idea has suddenly evolved into a global multibillion dollar industry. In this short and accessible book, Ewa Luger explains what we mean when we talk about AI, explores how we got here, describes what we are doing about it, where the field is heading, and where we should go next. ABOUT THE SERIES: The 'What Do We Know and What Should We Do About...?' series offers readers short, up-to-date overviews of key issues often misrepresented, simplified or misunderstood in modern society and the media. Each book is written by a leading social scientist with an established reputation in the relevant subject area. The Series Editor is Professor Chris Grey, Royal Holloway, University of London

The idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken the world by storm. From fears over killer robots in sci-fi dystopias, to driverless cars in real life, we are both inspired and horrified by the prospect of an advanced intelligence that is not our own. Could AI take over the world? Will it take all of our jobs? Has Google really created a sentient chatbot, and is AI racing towards human intelligence, or is it just horribly misunderstood? These common questions point us towards an unknown and troubling future. What we do know is that we are in the midst of a hype cycle, with huge amounts of funding and focus galvanising progress. Whether AI truly lives up to this hype remains to be seen, but this once niche idea has suddenly evolved into a global multibillion dollar industry. In this short and accessible book, Ewa Luger explains what we mean when we talk about AI, explores how we got here, describes what we are doing about it, where the field is heading, and where we should go next. ABOUT THE SERIES: The 'What Do We Know and What Should We Do About...?' series offers readers short, up-to-date overviews of key issues often misrepresented, simplified or misunderstood in modern society and the media. Each book is written by a leading social scientist with an established reputation in the relevant subject area. The Series Editor is Professor Chris Grey, Royal Holloway, University of London

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, CONVERSATIONS 2021, which was held during November 2021.Due to COVID-19 pandemic the conference was held online.The 12 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 25 submissions. The papers in the proceedings are structured in four topical groups: Chatbot User Insight, Chatbots Supporting Collaboration and Social Interaction, and Chatbot UX and Design.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, CONVERSATIONS 2020, which was held during November 23-24, 2020, hosted by the University of Amsterdam. The conference was planned to take place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, but changed to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The 14 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 36 submissions. The papers in the proceedings are structured in four topical groups: Chatbot UX and user perceptions, social and relational chatbots, chatbot applications, and chatbots for customer service. The papers provide new knowledge through empirical, theoretical, or design contributions.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, CONVERSATIONS 2022, which was held during November 2022. The 12 papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 27 submissions. They were organized in topical sections named: chatbot users and user experience; chatbot design and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Chatbot Research and Design, CONVERSATIONS 2019, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in November 2019. The 18 revised full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 31 submissions. The papers are grouped in the following topical sections: user and communication studies user experience and design, chatbots for collaboration, chatbots for customer service, and chatbots in education.