Yuqian Sun: Hybrid Agents: Fusing AI Characters with Everyday Life and Social Interactions

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Hybrid Agents: Fusing AI Characters with Everyday Life and Social Interactions

Yuqian Sun

AI artist, researcher

Ph.D. Candidate, Royal College of Art, London

Yuqian Sun is a Chinese AI artist and researcher who graduated from Tsinghua University and Goldsmiths. She’s currently a doctoral student at the Royal College of Art, and an art consultant of rct.ai. She’s also an artist on SuperRare, the top NFT platform.

Yuqian Sun focuses on narrative AI, specifically chatbots with personas and stories. She is interested in examining how story context can influence players’ perceptions of AI agents, including their emotional engagement and interest. To explore this topic, she uses conversational agents to create “live” narrative experiences that go beyond games and occur in daily life. She investigates this topic through chatbots in communities, games, and expanded art projects.

Her works and research presented at galleries and conferences including 2020 Artificial Life, SIGGRAPH Asia Art Gallery, Foundation of Digital Games(FDG) , ISEA, ICIDS, ACM Multimedia, BBA Gallery Berlin, Shanghai Aiiiii Art Center and New York Times Square. Her AI work is also shortlisted on 2022 Lumen Prize.

Abstract

Imagine a scenario where Siri reveals herself to be a witch from another world, working as an assistant merely for sustenance. This research posits that the impact of generative AI arises not only from the performance of models but also from users’ expectations and beliefs, akin to game designers creating captivating non-player characters (NPCs). The evolution of language models, particularly large language models (LLMs), has given rise to dynamic dialogue systems that blur the lines between reality and fiction. Based on LLMs, this study introduces the concept of “hybrid agents,” a novel type of social chatbot that operates within both the real and fictional realms, leveraging the power of storytelling to engage users in a more meaningful manner.The research delves into the intersection of human-AI interaction, game design, and narrative storytelling, aiming to integrate AI agents into online communities, allowing them to function as social members in both virtual game environments and real-world communication platforms. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study aims to foster a seamless integration of AI agents into various digital domains through a series of studies including online chatbots and LLM-based interactive games.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Narratives; Intelligent storytelling; Games; Chatbot

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Host

Yufan Xie

Master of Architecture, University of Southern California

Yufan Xie is a multi-disciplinary designer practicing at the intersection of of architecture, generative design and sound synthesis, focusing on multi-sensory narratives driven by generative algorithms, 3d printing and spatial computing.