Virtual Assistants as Characters—Or Not

New technologies like voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and the Google Assistant give impression that lines between humans machines are blurring gradually take up social roles once occupied by humans. To counter anxiety, this essay argues these becoming more characters, adapting to templates we initially constructed for fictional beings whose space occupy instead. It provides a textual reading of Japanese assistant Hikari Azuma advertised company Vinclu's website in order demonstrate how functions kyara, character without story, development depends on user. The proposes have adjust our conceptual understanding characters distinct from human technology. Instead, concludes should perceive current operating spectrum which some will look others software-in-action with no humanlikeness at all.