Moving Ahead With Human-Machine Communication

In this essay, we introduce the 10 articles comprising Volume 2 (2021) of Human-Machine Communication, each which is innovative and offers a substantial contribution to field human-machine communication (HMC). As collection, these move forward HMC project by touching on four layers important discourse: (1) updates theoretical frameworks paradigms, including Computers as Social Actors (CASA; Nass et al., 1996), (2) examination ontology prototyping processes, (3) critical analysis gender ability/disability relations, (4) extension scholarship into organizational contexts. Building upon insights offered contributing authors incorporating perspectives coming from historical, sociological, semiotic (and hermeneutic) disciplines, discuss challenges applying CASA in suggest reframing light long-standing human experiences with automata, objective culture, narration (fiction), symbols. Whereas CASA’s “old brains engage new media” formulation leads naturally focus mindless versus mindful attribution hermeneutic interpretations robots/media narrative texts symbolic humans beg scholarly attention issues literacy representation, respectively. Finally, advance series justifications/calls for future research avenues.