Self-disclosure to conversational AI: a literature review, emergent framework, and directions for future research

Abstract

Conversational technologies have become increasingly prevalent, with interactions becoming more and more personalized. This paper reviews literature on the phenomenon of self-disclosure to conversational technologies. Five types of factors emerge as influencing self-disclosure: interface modality, conversational factors, user characteristics, mediating mechanisms, and contextual factors. We describe each type of factor, cover findings from the literature, present the framework of factors influencing self-disclosure that thus emerges, and put forth pertinent questions for future research on self-disclosure to conversational technologies.