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Recent research indicates that people respond socially to computers and perceive them as having personalities. Software agents are artifacts that particularly embody those qualities most likely to elicit social responses : ful lling a social role, using language, and exhibiting contingent behavior. People's disposition to respond socially can be so strong that they may perceive software agents as having a personality, even when none was intended. T he following is a discussion about intentionally designing personalities for social agents. T o design personalities, it is necessary to consider the nature of personality and its role in interactions between people and artifacts. In addition, a case study of designing a social software agent is presented. T he conclusions from this experience are summarized as guidelines for future agent developers.
D. Christopher Dryer (Thu,) studied this question.