Talking to Extraordinary Objects: Folktales Offer Analogies for Interacting with Technology
Martha Larson
TL;DR
The paper analyzes the current reckoning with anthropomorphized interfaces and proposes folktales as a rich source of non-human analogies for speech-enabled technology. It introduces a taxonomy of extraordinary objects and language capabilities drawn from folktales to separate language from humanness and to illustrate how intelligence can be decoupled from user-like social roles. It advocates an 'otherware' design principle and a cautious, ethically aware approach that treats technology as a controllable object rather than a human-like assistant. The work aims to inform user interfaces and AI systems with folklore-inspired metaphors that preserve expressive language while mitigating anthropomorphic risks and societal impacts.
Abstract
Speech and language are valuable for interacting with technology. It would be ideal to be able to decouple their use from anthropomorphization, which has recently met an important moment of reckoning. In the world of folktales, language is everywhere and talking to extraordinary objects is not unusual. This overview presents examples of the analogies that folktales offer. Extraordinary objects in folktales are diverse and also memorable. Language capacity and intelligence are not always connected to humanness. Consideration of folktales can offer inspiration and insight for using speech and language for interacting with technology.