Is Alexa like a computer? A search engine? A friend? A silly child? Yes.

Abstract

In this provocation, we analyze metaphors used by 14 end-users in semi-structured interviews to describe their interactions with Voice User Interfaces (VUIs). We identified four key metaphor groups—computer, search engine, friend, and silly child—that can help us understand how individual end-users perceive VUIs differently based on the conversational context. A consideration of these four groups draws attention to the issues with reductionist implementations of system personas and role-based performances and the problems of fixating on humanness as a metaphor. Fortunately, using metaphor analysis can also help in ideating solutions to these issues.