Impact of anthropomorphism in AI assistants' verbal feedback on task performance and emotional experience.

Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are increasingly deployed across various fields to replace human operators in providing feedback to users, making anthropomorphism a pivotal topic in AI-assisted interactions. We investigated the impact of varying degrees of anthropomorphism in verbal feedback...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ergonomics Vol. 69; no. 6; pp. 980 - 994
Main Authors: Yang, Shuhan, Huang, Yanqun, Huang, Xueqin, Zhang, Jian, Meng, Ziping, Yang, Junyu
Format: algorithm research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jun2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
      vid: 69
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/00140139.2025.2497072
        193835287
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        atl: Impact of anthropomorphism in AI assistants' verbal feedback on task performance and emotional experience.
      aug:
        au:
          Yang, Shuhan
          Huang, Yanqun
          Huang, Xueqin
          Zhang, Jian
          Meng, Ziping
          Yang, Junyu
        affil: Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
      sug:
        subj:
          Artificial Intelligence
          Feedback
          Emotions Evaluation
          Task Performance and Analysis Evaluation
          Individuality
          Self-Efficacy Evaluation
          Human
          Robotics
          Convenience Sample
          Questionnaires
          Male
          Female
          Data Analysis Software
          Adult
          Experimental Studies
          Cues
          Speech Perception
          Voice
          Cluster Analysis
          Models, Anatomic
          McNemar's Test
          Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test
          One-Way Analysis of Variance
          Repeated Measures
          Validity Evaluation
          Reaction Time Evaluation
          Pleasure Evaluation
          Speech Sample
          Funding Source
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Artificial intelligence (AI) assistants are increasingly deployed across various fields to replace human operators in providing feedback to users, making anthropomorphism a pivotal topic in AI-assisted interactions. We investigated the impact of varying degrees of anthropomorphism in verbal feedback on task performance and user experience. A total of 30 participants were recruited, and their task performance and subjective experiences in response to different levels of feedback were measured. Moderate-level anthropomorphic verbal feedback elicited significantly lower self-efficacy and pleasure compared to high- and low- level feedback. Notably, under high-level feedback, participants demonstrated a significant increase in response speed compared to lower levels. These findings suggested that high-level feedback of AI assistants could enhance participants' performance and experience, thereby improving training or learning efficacy. However, moderate-level anthropomorphic feedback appeared to be less effective. The study outcomes could offer insights for future research and design of AI voice systems. Practitioner Summary: This study deepens the understanding of anthropomorphism in AI voice feedback. Thirty participants underwent laboratory experiments to assess their task performance and emotional reactions to different feedback levels. The findings revealed that high-level feedback significantly enhanced response speed, whereas moderate-level feedback reduced self-efficacy and pleasure.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        algorithm
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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