Breaking the Silence: Encouraging Conversations with Digital Humans

Abstract

As digital humans increasingly find application in service-oriented environments, understanding how users engage with this new technology becomes critical to improve their usability and adoption. This master’s thesis investigates how conversational initiation, whether initiated by the user or the AI agent influences user engagement and experience. Drawing on literature and field studies at Aarhus Jobcenter and Krifa, the study identifies barriers to interaction with digital receptionists and highlights the need for clearer social cues and interaction affordances. To explore these dynamics, a digital human named Rosie was deployed in semi-public spaces at Aalborg University across two experimental conditions: one in which Rosie proactively initiated conversations, and one where she remained passive. In total there were 175 trials in which 29 participants interacted with the AI. The interaction was investigated through probability of success, real-time observations, exit interviews, and questionnaires asking about two constructs: the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Temple Presence Inventory (TPI). The study found no statistically significant difference in either probability of success, TAM or TPI. However, users in the Rosie-initiated condition were significantly less likely to request facilitator help, suggesting that proactive initiation reduces ambiguity by providing a strong signifier to voice interaction. Thematic analysis further revealed that user initiation shaped users’ subjective impressions, eliciting more reflective and cognitively engaged responses. These findings suggest that conversational initiation plays a pivotal role in shaping interpretive aspects of human–AI interaction. Designing digital humans to proactively initiate dialogue can reduce confusion on how to interact with the system which may enhance user engagement, reduce social friction, and potentially improve perceived intelligence, particularly in socially situated contexts. The study underscores the importance of interaction framing and highlights the value of continued research into the contextual and social dynamics of AI-mediated encounters.

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A master programme thesis from Aalborg University

Breaking the Silence: Encouraging Conversations with Digital Humans