Agent as a tool for teamwork
Application: anti-cyberbullying agent
Janneke van der Zwaan
HART Workshop
Delft
University of
Technology
Challenge the future
Overview
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Background cyberbullying
Anti-cyberbullying agent
The team
Issues for discussion
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Background on cyberbullying
• Cyberbulling is ‘any behavior performed through electronic or
digital media by individuals or groups that repeatedly
communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended to inflict
harm or discomfort on others’ (Tokunaga, 2010)
• Victimization rates: 20 - 40%
• 40% of victims is emotionally affected
• Frustrated, angry, sad, and not wanting to go to school
• 23% - 33% of victims does not talk to anyone
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Anti-Cyberbullying Agent
• Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA)
• Supportive friend (peer)
• Target audience 10 – 17 year-olds
• Goal: to empower victims of cyberbullying
• Give emotional support to lower negative emotions
• Suggest steps the victim can take
• Support anti-bullying training
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Disclaimer
• Technology will not solve the problem of cyberbullying!
• However, technology might be a useful tool
• Focus on average cases
• Not a replacement for professional help!
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Mockup
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The team
Professional
Child
Agent
Parent
Teacher
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The team
Professional
Child
Agent
Parent
Teacher
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Professional’s tasks
Professional
Child
Agent
Professional  Agent
• Initialize (and update) training
Parent
Teacher
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Agent functionality
Professional
Agent
Agent  Child
• Practical advice
• Emotional support
• Information on Internet safety issues
• Support anti-bulling exercises
• Diary functionality
• …
Child
Parent
Teacher
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Agent functionality
Professional
Agent  Professional
• Progress report
Child
Agent
Parent
Teacher
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Agent functionality
Professional
Child
Agent
Agent  Adult
• Alert in case of emergency
Parent
Teacher
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Issues (overview)
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Privacy
Long term interaction/multiple interactions
Evaluation
Usability
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Issue: privacy
• Assure child’s privacy vs. alerting adult participants
• Trusting the agent
• When to alert adult?
• Who to alert?
• Parent, teacher, therapist, …
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Issue: Long term
interaction/multiple interactions
• Bullying refers to multiple events over a period of time
• Flexible team composition
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Issue: evaluation
• How to evaluate the team?
• Agent’s task is partly social
• Usability for professional and child
• Compare to results of anti-bullying trainings without agent
• Is it easier to evaluate team with one agent and multiple humans?
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Issue: usability
• Agent should be easy to use
• Children should be able to use it
• Not increase workload of professional
• Using the agent should be fun
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