The Human-Machine Communication (HMC) Interest Group of the International Communication Association (ICA) supports and promotes scholarship regarding communication between people and technologies designed to enact the role of communicator, such as artificial intelligence (AI), robots, digital assistants, smart and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, cyborgs, and virtual and augmented realities.
HMC research focuses on the meaning-making that unfolds when people engage directly with technology as a communicative subject. HMC encompasses the aspects of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Human-Agent Interaction (HAI), and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) pertaining to technologies that function as communicators. It also includes the philosophical and critical examination of these technologies and their integration into daily life.
HMC research focuses on how people make sense of machines as communicators; the implications of people’s interactions with communicative technology for individuals, organizations, and society. The HMC Interest Group is inclusive of the different theoretical and methodological approaches.
Open Questions in Human-Machine Communication
May 21, 2020 (Thursday), 08:00 - 17:00
Submisson deadline: Friday, February 7, 2020
The fifth annual pre-conference on Human-Machine Communication (HMC) aims to identify and explore the most pressing "open questions" surrounding communication between humans and technologies, such as chatbots, social robots and smart assistants.
For this full-day pre-conference, we invite scholars from across ICA’s divisions and a variety of epistemological and methodological backgrounds to discuss their work in relation to HMC, a broad field of research that encompasses Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Robot Interaction, and Human-Agent Interaction.
Scholars should address what they see as important open questions concerning the exchange of messages and creation of meaning between people and physical or virtual digital interlocutors, toward progressing theoretical and/or practical breakthroughs in relation to communication with these technologies and the discourses surrounding them.
Amongst many other things, submissions might consider questions relating to:
However, there are many other topics/themes that are likely to be of interest, so scholars should feel able to identify and address any pressing questions they feel HMC raises or might benefit from considering in their submission. The intention of the pre-conference is to encourage interdisciplinary thinking, approaches and collaborations in considering communication with machines.
Note: If you are interested in publishing a full version of your paper, please consider submitting to the journal, Human-Machine Communication. The journal editors would welcome papers that address the idea of open questions in HMC. The submission deadline is April 1, 2020.
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre ** ON-SITE**
Faculty US $75
Student US $50
Submissions should be emailed to autumn.edwards@wmich.edu
Papers should be 750-1000 words excluding references. The paper should detail what the scholar plans to present and how this relates to the overall focus of the pre-conference given above. The pre-conference is open to all sorts of scholarship, both empirical and theoretical, quantitative and qualitative.
The pre-conference will have a two-tiered format. Some scholars will be invited to deliver a paper presentation while others will be invited to take part in a poster session.
2019 ICA Pre-Conference, Communicating with Machines: Boundless Imagination, Washington, DC
2018 ICA Pre-Conference, Communicating with Machines: Theory and Practice, Prague, Czech Republic
2017 ICA Pre-Conference, Communicating with Machines: Interventions with Digital Agents, San Diego, California
2016 ICA Post-Conference, Communicating with Machines: The Rising Power of Digital Interlocutors in Our Lives, Fukuoka, Japan
2015 ICA BlueSky Workshop, Beyond Human: Developing Human-Machine Communication Research, San Juan, Puerto Rico
HMC Interest Group on the ICA website: https://www.icahdq.org/group/hmc
Official members of the group will receive information about calls and events. Members also have voting rights and can run for office.
When renewing your ICA membership or joining ICA for the first time, select Human-Machine Communication from the list of Interest Groups and Divisions.
Resources not formally affiliated with this group or ICA but that may be of interest to HMC scholars.
Human-Machine Communication focuses on the theory and practice of communication with and about digital interlocutors. It is open access and publishes articles both online and in print.
Join the general HMC e-mail list for updates