Towards a framework for computational persuasion with applications in behaviour change1

Abstract

Abstract. Persuasion is an activity that involves one party trying to induce another party to believe something or to do something. It is an important and multifaceted human facility. Obviously, sales and marketing is heavily dependent on persuasion. But many other activities involve persuasion such as a doctor persuading a patient to drink less alcohol, a road safety expert persuading drivers to not text while driving, or an online safety expert persuading users of social media sites to not reveal too much personal information online. As computing becomes involved in every sphere of life, so too is persuasion a target for applying computer-based solutions. An automated persuasion system (APS) is a system that can engage in a dialogue with a user (the persuadee) in order to persuade the persuadee to do (or not do) some action or to believe (or not believe) something. To do this, an APS aims to use convincing arguments in order to persuade the persuadee. Computational persuasion is the study of formal models of dialogues involving arguments and counterarguments, of user models, and strategies, for APSs. A promising application area for computational persuasion is in behaviour change. Within healthcare organizations, government agencies, and non-governmental agencies, there is much interest in changing behaviour of particular groups of people away from actions that are harmful to themselves and/or to others around them.

Computational opposition analysis using word embeddings: A method for strategising resonant informal argument

“…While there has been some interest in bringing computation to semiotics as surveyed in 1.2, and a number of recent papers in automated persuasion [16,17,26,34], we believe the rising pressure on individuals to process the vast number of informal arguments they encounter every day warrants more work in this area. How often, for example, is an argument glimpsed on the internet processed to completion?…”

“…• A sociologist wonders if their article is more likely to be accepted by a British or American journal • A politician wants to know how to best appeal to those on the opposing side of gun control by analysing Twitter data Natural language processing (NLP) provides tools that may assist in such tasks ad hoc by modelling lexical choices and classifying them in terms of relevance, topic, or sentiment, or in specialised components for systems for argument finding and invention [41] or automated persuasion [16,17]. The process of selecting soda can colours, for example, might be aided by analysing social media posts as an exercise in audience analysis.…”

A parametrized ranking-based semantics compatible with persuasion principles

“…Persuasion is an activity that involves one party (the persuader) trying to induce another party (the persuadee) to believe (or not believe) certain information or to do (or not do) some action. In our context, persuasion is unidirectional [19] and focused on a "targeted argument", the aim being for the persuader to increase the ranking of this argument. The assumption is that it makes it more likely for the persuadee to believe the targeted fact (e.g., practizing exercise is good for your health) or perform the targeted action (e.g., buy a specific car).…”

“…The assumption is that it makes it more likely for the persuadee to believe the targeted fact (e.g., practizing exercise is good for your health) or perform the targeted action (e.g., buy a specific car). It has been observed that the three-valued approach of Dung was too restrictive in that context [19], and thus ranking-based approaches can be more appropriate.…”

Towards Computational Persuasion via Natural Language Argumentation Dialogues

“…An automated persuasion system (APS) is a system that can engage in a dialogue with a user (the persuadee) in order to persuade the persuadee to accept a specific argument (the persuasion goal) that encapsulates the reason for a change of behaviour in some specific respect [41]. For example, the persuasion goal might be that the user needs to eat fruit in order to be more healthy, and the system presents supporting arguments (based on evidence, expert opinion, explanation of the fit with the user's goals, etc.)…”