Electric Elves: What Went Wrong and Why

Software personal assistants continue to be a topic of significant research interest. This article outlines some of the important lessons learned from a successfully deployed team of personal assistant agents (Electric Elves) in an office environment. In the Electric Elves project, a team of almost...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The AI magazine 2008-06, Vol.29 (2), p.23-31
Main Authors: Tambe, Milind, Bowring, Emma, Pearce, Jonathan P., Varakantham, Pradeep, Scerri, Paul, Pynadath, David V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial intelligence
Auctions
Decision trees
Design
Intelligent agent
Intelligent agents
Meetings
Office management
Personal digital assistants
Social norms
Technology application
Work environment
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Summary:Software personal assistants continue to be a topic of significant research interest. This article outlines some of the important lessons learned from a successfully deployed team of personal assistant agents (Electric Elves) in an office environment. In the Electric Elves project, a team of almost a dozen personal assistant agents were continually active for seven months. Each elf (agent) represented one person and assisted in daily activities in an actual office environment. This project led to several important observations about privacy, adjustable autonomy, and social norms in office environments. In addition to outlining some of the key lessons learned we outline our continued research to address some of the concerns raised.
ISSN:0738-4602
2371-9621
DOI:10.1609/aimag.v29i2.2123