February 7, Voice Assistant Use in Long-Term Care Communities
The Computational Social Science Lab presents Voice Assistant Use in Long-Term Care Communities.
Abstract:
Research on voice assistants has primarily studied how people use them for informational needs, music requests, and to control electronic devices (e.g., IoT). Recent research suggests people such as older adults want to use them to address social and relational needs but lacks empirical evidence to show how older adults are currently engaging in these behaviors. In this paper, we use a ma- chine learning approach to analyze more than 600,000 queries that 456 older adults in long-term care communities made to Amazon Alexa devices over two years, classifying how older adults are using voice assistants in-situ for social and psychological well-being. We present empirical evidence showing how older adults engage in two primary relational behaviors with Alexa – 1) asking personal questions to “get to know” the assistant and 2) engaging with the voice assistant for mental stimulation and mood enhancement.
Zoom link
The Computational Social Science Lab presents Voice Assistant Use in Long-Term Care Communities.
Abstract:
Research on voice assistants has primarily studied how people use them for informational needs, music requests, and to control electronic devices (e.g., IoT). Recent research suggests people such as older adults want to use them to address social and relational needs but lacks empirical evidence to show how older adults are currently engaging in these behaviors. In this paper, we use a ma- chine learning approach to analyze more than 600,000 queries that 456 older adults in long-term care communities made to Amazon Alexa devices over two years, classifying how older adults are using voice assistants in-situ for social and psychological well-being. We present empirical evidence showing how older adults engage in two primary relational behaviors with Alexa – 1) asking personal questions to “get to know” the assistant and 2) engaging with the voice assistant for mental stimulation and mood enhancement.
Zoom link