Mistaking Minds and Machines: How Speech Affects Dehumanization and Anthropomorphism
Treating a human mind like a machine is an essential component of dehumanization, whereas attributing a humanlike mind to a machine is an essential component of anthropomorphism. In this talk, Juliana Schroeder will discuss her recent research focused on how the voice can affect the likelihood of mistaking a person for a machine, or a machine for a person. Her experiments demonstrated that “people are more likely to infer a human (vs. computer) creator when they hear a voice expressing thoughts than when they read the same thoughts in text. Adding human visual cues to text (i.e., seeing a person perform a script in a subtitled video clip) did not increase the likelihood of inferring a human creator compared with only reading text, suggesting that defining features of personhood may be conveyed more clearly in speech.” She will explain her research and discuss implications for dehumanizing others through text-based media, and for anthropomorphizing machines through speech-based media.
A light lunch is included for attendees who RSVP in advance.
Juliana Schroeder is an assistant professor in the Management of Organizations Group at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where she researches how people navigate their social worlds: first, how people form inferences about others' mental states and mental capacities and, second, how these inferences influence their interactions.
Juliana's research has been published in journals such as Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, and Psychological Science. It has been featured by outlets such as the New York Times, Newsweek, NBC, and the Today Show, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation.
Juliana received her B.A. in psychology and economics from the University of Virginia. She received a M.A. in social psychology and advanced methods from the University of Chicago, and an M.B.A. from the Chicago Booth School of Business. Her Ph.D. is in psychology and business from the University of Chicago.
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