Talking to computers?

When two people talk, each side adapts to the other. Unconsciously, we adapt our choice of words and our syntax to the person we're talking to and extend our vocabulary when, for example, friends frequently use a certain word. This so-called 'interactive alignment' is normally a case of give-and-take. In any interaction between humans and machines, however, the conversation remains comparatively one-sided, as linguistic studies have shown. "AI hasn't progressed as far as the Silicon Valley companies would have us believe," says Dr. Netaya Lotze. For 15 years now, Lotze - a linguist at the Institute of German Studies at the University of Münster - has been systematically analysing how humans communicate with machines. Her research is based on posts by chatbots, for example from the commentary columns of social media, and they constitute a very promising body of texts.