The LinkLab is a hub for the science of human intersections with social machines, from physically embodied robots to digitally embodied videogame characters.
Our research is motivated by questions that arise when we imagine a hybrid societies—social spheres where humans and machines co-exist and make meaning together in the course of everyday life. That means we consider the ways that machines will be more than tools and conduits, but instead might be understood as authentic social actors with capacities to be independently intentional, moral, and communicative. We explore these questions across various contexts, from the purely social (how might humans and robots experience recreation together?) to practical contexts like education, health, journalism, and workspaces. This work draws from various theoretical traditions—communication science, media psychology, social and moral psychology, STS, network theories, and more—and relies on combinations of inductive and deductive methods that best fit the challenging questions at hand.
The lab is directed by Dr. Jaime Banks. For more information, please reach out at banks@syr.edu.
Ongoing Projects
- Human Perceptions of Robots’ Mental and Moral Capacities—how do we see ‘someone’ and ‘someone good’ in social machines?
- HMC and Identities—how do human-machine communication processes influence how we see ourselves as individuals and as humans?
- Heuristics and cognitive biases—what mental shortcuts do people take when making decisions about machine interactions?
- Player-avatar Relations—how do we experience the independence and control of characters in videogames?
- Gamification outcomes—what are the effects of applying game elements to non-game contexts?
- Virtual Sense of Place—how can we ‘know’ an immersive digital space like we know a person?