Deep mind in social responses to technologies: A new approach to explaining the Computers are Social Actors phenomena.

The Computers are Social Actors (CASA) paradigm has been increasingly used as a major theoretical framework to explain users' social responses to emerging technologies such as chatbots, voice assistants, and social robots. However, the core explanatory mechanism of the CASA paradigm is still under debate. In past works, mixed findings have emerged to support the mindlessness explanation and the mindfulness explanation. Thus, to better understand which mechanism features more explanatory power, this study analyzed 834 participants' responses and adopted a new approach combining the experimental design and classical multidimensional scaling. An investigation into participants' cognitive maps of technology differences in evoking social presence and perceived trustworthiness suggested that compared to mindfulness, mindlessness had more power in accounting for users' social responses to technologies. The findings can serve as important evidence for the explanatory mechanism of the CASA paradigm, make methodological contributions, and have practical implications. • A new approach combining experimental design and multidimensional scaling was used. • Mindless anthropomorphism was better supported in explaining social presence. • Mindless anthropomorphism was better supported in explaining CASA responses. • Technology distances reflected users' perceptions of social cues and signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]