What have I done? – Investigating mundane interactions with artificial agents

• Event: Seminar
• Presented by: Erik Lagerstedt from the University of Gothenburg
• Date: 20 May 2026
• Time: 13:15-15:00
• Venue: Gothenburg University, Humanisten and online
• Address: Renströmsgatan 6, 412 55 Göteborg
• Room: J444
• Zoom link: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/67063108947?pwd=kPpjvMLCekxNTBVzq4uYP5gFZ6Y6vd.1
• Slides:

Abstract

Communication and interaction are often studied from the perspective of the coding and decoding of signals that are sent between sending and receiving agents. This perspective has not only guided the theories of communication but also shaped the collection and curation of corpora. The focus on the signal has, however, been at the cost of making other aspects of communication peripheral, for instance the dynamics and social context. These “peripheral” aspects are what interest me, in particular in mundane situations.

For the last couple of years, I’ve been working as a postdoc for the ERC project DivCon, which investigates the dynamic management of mismatches in dialogue. Part of this work consists of collecting new datasets, both to be able to analyse naturalistic interactions which have not been “cleaned”, and to be able to experimentally introduce mismatches to see how the participants handle them. Part of this work consists of analysing datasets collected by collaborators. In many of these instances, the communication has been with or via artificial agents and other technologies. In this presentation, I will present some of the things I have done and learned within this project.