Future avatars will be able to manipulate people.

The existing technology of creating digital avatars for human relations is at a relatively primitive level; we are surprised if a computer image is just a little like human behavior. However, in the latest issue of the journal Science, Judith Donath of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Information Laboratory says this is only a temporary situation . She suggests that since programmers make great efforts to create realistic human behavior in avatars, someday they will come up with the creation of technology that uses human confidence.

Donat notes that even simple human manners are accompanied by body language and facial expressions, which can strengthen or weaken the message that you tried to convey to the interlocutor. The impression of a person is influenced by a variety of actions, starting with a glance, a smile, and ending with a general determination and attitude.

Now even the most advanced avatars perform only a small part of these actions. But this is already beginning to change, at least in scientific communities. But it’s too difficult to control the user for all these actions at the same time - Donat shows a job in which all manners are managed by a single team. So, the avatar can be commanded, so that by the end of the conversation she nodded her head, waved her hand and stopped communicating. Users of such systems found them more natural and attractive, and also found their interlocutors more emotional.

Judith says that even more realistic designs can be made, but this gives her some concerns about trust issues when these technologies come to the masses. She notes that a person’s behavior reflects his or her opinion of the interlocutor. For example, the interlocutor who turns his eyes away from you is most likely lying or is simply not interested in talking. And with the help of well-programmed avatars, people will be able to pretend to be honest to their gullible interlocutors.
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It was also found that trust depends on the credibility of the avatars. If an avatar takes on a more humane look with a certain genus (and who only you will not see in Second Life), it causes less doubt. It was also found that trust can be manipulated by more sophisticated methods. For example, a group of people pays more attention to the avatar created with the “face of the team” that unites the features of the members of this group. Political messages seem more convincing to people if they were pronounced by an avatar with a similar appearance.