The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating
As an agent delivers content during the communication between an artificial intelligence (AI) machine and a person, the voice of the agent is a crucial factor to be considered. Particularly in the fields of eHealth, the perception of users toward an agent is crucial as it significantly affects the c...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/7/2893 |
| _version_ | 1797540248965611520 |
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| author | Hyo Chang Kim Min Chul Cha Yong Gu Ji |
| author_facet | Hyo Chang Kim Min Chul Cha Yong Gu Ji |
| author_sort | Hyo Chang Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As an agent delivers content during the communication between an artificial intelligence (AI) machine and a person, the voice of the agent is a crucial factor to be considered. Particularly in the fields of eHealth, the perception of users toward an agent is crucial as it significantly affects the communication between the agent and its patients, as well as the treatment results. Thus, this study examined the effects of the voice of an agent on the perception of users toward the agent and its counseling effects. This study developed a psychological counseling agent with four voices according to gender and age, communicated with the subjects through such agent, and measured the perception of users toward the agent and its counseling effects through a questionnaire. Results demonstrated that the female-voiced agent had a higher level of attractiveness than the male-voiced agent, regardless of the age of such voice, and the agent using an older voice had a higher level of expertness and depth than the agent using a younger voice, regardless of the gender of such voice. The findings of this study are expected to be effectively used to design a voice-based AI agent that considers the optimal voice according to the purpose of use. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:58:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2d849f679984a308527aa5959647e24 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:58:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2d849f679984a308527aa5959647e242023-11-21T11:46:32ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-03-01117289310.3390/app11072893The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor RatingHyo Chang Kim0Min Chul Cha1Yong Gu Ji2Department of Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, KoreaDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, KoreaDepartment of Industrial Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, KoreaAs an agent delivers content during the communication between an artificial intelligence (AI) machine and a person, the voice of the agent is a crucial factor to be considered. Particularly in the fields of eHealth, the perception of users toward an agent is crucial as it significantly affects the communication between the agent and its patients, as well as the treatment results. Thus, this study examined the effects of the voice of an agent on the perception of users toward the agent and its counseling effects. This study developed a psychological counseling agent with four voices according to gender and age, communicated with the subjects through such agent, and measured the perception of users toward the agent and its counseling effects through a questionnaire. Results demonstrated that the female-voiced agent had a higher level of attractiveness than the male-voiced agent, regardless of the age of such voice, and the agent using an older voice had a higher level of expertness and depth than the agent using a younger voice, regardless of the gender of such voice. The findings of this study are expected to be effectively used to design a voice-based AI agent that considers the optimal voice according to the purpose of use.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/7/2893AIvoiceHRIHAIpsychotherapycounseling |
| spellingShingle | Hyo Chang Kim Min Chul Cha Yong Gu Ji The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating Applied Sciences AI voice HRI HAI psychotherapy counseling |
| title | The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating |
| title_full | The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating |
| title_short | The Impact of an Agent’s Voice in Psychological Counseling: Session Evaluation and Counselor Rating |
| title_sort | impact of an agent s voice in psychological counseling session evaluation and counselor rating |
| topic | AI voice HRI HAI psychotherapy counseling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/7/2893 |
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