“Alexa, Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Characterizing Playful Requests to Conversational Agents

Conversational Agents (CAs) such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are well-suited for task-oriented interactions (“Call Jason”), but other interaction types are often beyond their capabilities. One notable example is playful requests: for example, people ask their CAs personal questions (“What’s your favorite color?”) or joke with them, sometimes at their expense (“Find Nemo”). Failing to recognize playfulness causes user dissatisfaction and abandonment, destroying the precious rapport with the CA.