Full blog on "Media Equation"

References:
Paper 1:
Title: Machines and Mindlessness: Social Responses to Computers
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon
Venue: Journal of Societal Issues, Vol. 56-1, 2000

Paper 2:
Title: Computers are Social Actors
Authors: Clifford Nass, Jonathan Steuer, and Ellen R. Tauber
Venue: CHI '94, April 1994

Paper 3:
Title: Can Computer Personalities Be Human Personalities?
Authors: Clifford Nass, Youngme Moon, BJ Fogg, Byron Reeves, and Chris Dryer
Venue: CHI '95, May 7-11 1995

Summary:
All of these papers discussed the idea of computers being social actors. Studies were done to show that certain cues were powerful enough to make the user view the computer as a social being. Some of the cues are gender, ethnicity, and traits such as dominant and submissive. Things such as voice have a powerful effect on users. The overall consensus between the papers was that it was not hard to make users view the computer as a social being.

Discussion: 
This idea needs to be considered in design because it can make the users think differently about an interface than what is intended. I don't think it is odd that the human-computer interaction is viewed as a social interaction because I experience it all the time.

Picture from 'Computers are Social Actors' paper.