Abstract - AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology has seen a rapid acceleration in growth and adoption in recent years, the technology is being integrated into many industries, including e-commerce. In e-commerce, AI-powered chatbots can elevate customer satisfaction if optimally designed which balance human-like characteristics (e.g., names, avatars, emotions, intentions, language, movements), transparency and capabilities. E-commerce chatbot have improved drastically since its early days, evolving from simple conversational tools to sophisticated entities that can replicate human characteristics such as showing empathy, telling jokes and creating its own personality and even performing complex tasks to address customers’ needs. This research paper aims to map the body of knowledge on chatbots anthropomorphism by reporting a systematic literature review of 127 relevant peer-reviewed academic articles using the PRISMA framework. The literature review reveals the following themes: 1) History of anthropomorphism in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and communication theory, 2) Psychological and design antecedents of perceived human-likeness, 3) Anthropomorphic chatbot design effects on behaviour and organisation, 4) Ethical risks of over-trusting, dishonesty and unhealthy emotional dependency. The paper contributes to the growing literature on the role of AI in e-c0mmerce and specifically future of chatbots and their interactions with customers. Keywords—Chatbots, anthropomorphism, human–AI interaction, trust, AI ethics, e-commerce.
Tjandra et al. (Fri,) studied this question.