ABSTRACT
A workable definition could help interfaces and PR discover which of the many elements of personality ‘can be used to influence human perception’ in the words of a thesis on conversational agents. Adaptive interfaces, sensitive to changes in the user, could produce deeper interface personalities that are equally sensitive to PR’s needs, although much refinement is needed. Systems-focused approaches like that are offshoots of ‘activity theory’, which holds that an activity system embodies, the immediate task, but historical, cultural and other influences on the participants. Activity theory also suggests that the easier something is to understand and use, the more it will be used, or consumed. The step is to repeat the need for PR to understand that the interface has an authority and a message of its own. Interfaces are becoming recipients and shapers of perceptions. The rise of IUIs may show once again that PR’s influence on the tools it uses, and vice versa, cannot easily be checked.
