Artificially intelligent conversational agents: exploring their value in education and/or healthcare

Artificially intelligent conversational agents (such as ChatGPT) are becoming increasingly common in our everyday lives. The benefits of using these technologies are becoming clear in a range of commercial contexts, however, there much less is known about their potential value within the higher education and/or healthcare domains.

One possible area of focus within the higher education domain is to explore the value of artificially intelligent conversational agents for carrying out assessments. More specifically, viva assessments are used frequently to assess candidates on their work and have many benefits for both the student and the assessor. For example, providing: the opportunity to carry out highly personalised/tailored assessments, unique insight into student ability and understanding, probe depth of knowledge, ensure authenticity of submitted written work, and provide real-time feedback on performance, to name a few. Viva assessments, however, are known to cause anxiety, particularly as a result of the social interaction and in particular face-to-face interaction with an assessor/lecturer, that a traditional viva setting demands. Although there is some evidence in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and agent-based interaction research that suggests that interaction with artificial agents can elicit lower levels of anxiety compared with a human equivalent, there is a need to explore the pedagogical value of using intelligent (emotionally intelligent or similar) artificial agents to carry out viva assessments within the higher education domain.

Whilst this advertisement sets the backdrop to the area in which the successful PhD candidate could position their research, there is much scope for tailoring this topic to the successful candidate’s specific knowledge, interests, and skills. For example, there may be an interest in exploring how AI Conversational Agents can be used to help empower teachers/lecturers deliver more effective teaching, or how student learning can be enhanced and improved. Similarly, there is significant scope to explore the use of intelligent conversational agents within the area of healthcare research, for example, exploring the value of using artificial agents in the context of talking therapies (e.g. psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioural therapy, cognitive analytic therapy), if this is an area that is more in line with the successful candidate’s interests.

The proposed project will explore the value of using intelligent conversational agents within the context of higher education or healthcare. It is envisaged that the project would involve the design, development, and evaluation of a prototype conversational agent (embodied/not embodied, possibly using wizard of oz techniques) which would be trialled within the chosen higher education/healthcare context.

Candidates should ideally have some prototype design or software development skills. Experience of carrying out user-centred research and collecting and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data is also desirable.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:

1. Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
2. Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
3. Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.

Good luck!

This is a self funded topic

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Arthur Money - Dr Arthur G. Money is a Reader in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London, where he also received his MSc in Distributed Information Systems with distinction in 2001 and PhD in Multimedia Computing in 2007. Prior to embarking on a fully funded EPSRC PhD scholarship in 2004, he worked for Oracle UK Ltd as an e-Business Technology Consultant. Dr Money’s research focuses on the user-centred design, development and evaluation of multimedia computing systems and the effective deployment of these systems with users who have complex needs spanning a range of domains including older adults, healthcare, education, and defence.

Related Research Group(s)

Interactive Multimedia Systems - Building sensor and media-rich, cross-layer, inclusive e-systems, with an interest in human-machine interaction, sensorial-based interfaces, data visualisation and multimedia.

Human Computer Interaction - Investigating ways in which humans and computers can interact through intuitive interface design, understanding of human factors and multimedia.