Bots in Our Midst: Communicating with Automated Agents in Online Virtual Worlds

摘要

These days we spend an increasing amount of our time online communicating with automated digital entities. Millions of people spend time in multi-user online games and virtual worlds, where they not only play but also engage in various social activities together. Of particular interest is Second Life (SL): it is a generic platform that enables a virtual world constructed completely by its citizens. The study presented here was conducted in collaboration between AVL and a scholar of online religion (Prof. Gregory Price Grieve of the Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina).