Chatbots For Social Change/Theory of Conversation

Conversation is structured in a variety of ways. This chapter collects these for reference and reflection, attempting to hone in on the features of this vast landscape of human knowledge relevant to chatbots reshaping collective conversation.

We start with the theory of conversation, and connectedly of meaning, understanding, and explanation. Then, we move into the structures which humans have built for communicating effectively in a variety of professional realms. This division into the theoretical and the practical is a bit of a trick, as what will be useful for our purposes lies somewhere in between. By choosing poles of the structure of communication (descriptive and practical) as our starting points, we are hoping to triangulate what will be meaningful in our endeavors for the remainder of this course.

• Theorizing Conversation - The armchair philosophers tackle talking.
• Talking to Strangers - Miscommunication is the heart of the problem.
• Strategies for Conversation - What have clinical psychologists and statesmen learned about how to structure a conversation?