• Events

Chad Edwards (Western Michigan University, USA): Teaching Machines, Machines Teaching: Human-Machine Communication Meets Instructional Communication

• Date: 9. December 2026
• Time: 18:30
• Street: Domshof 26, 28195 Bremen (Universität Bremen)
• Location: Forum im Domshof
• Room: Kassenhalle

Abstract

Can a robot teach a class? Can a chatbot earn a student’s trust? For over a decade, our research has put machines in the teacher’s chair: a bot answering health questions on Twitter, a telepresence robot delivering a business lecture, an AI voice judged against student assumptions about age and wisdom, a robotic pet keeping isolated college students company. Again, students rate these machine instructors as credible, and real learning happens, even when a human teacher still edges them out. Voice, appearance, and a machine’s perceived age all shape how much students trust it. These findings raise a natural question: does the same hold outside the laboratory? Finally, we will explore our latest project, Voice of the Ogiek, which extends this work into the field, an AI-powered SMS and voice messaging project delivering land rights and conservation information to an indigenous community in Kenya’s Mau Forest. The project treats this outreach as a form of instruction in its own right, one that unfolds not in a classroom but within a community.

Bio

Chad Edwards, Ph.D. (2003-University of Kansas) is a Professor of Communication in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. He is a Theodore von Kármán Fellow at RWTH Aachen University. Previously, he was a Hartel Fellow at Marietta College. Edwards’ research interests include human-machine communication and AI interaction. Recent publications include articles in: International Journal of Social Robotics, Human-Machine Communication, Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Communication Education, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and Communication Studies. Chad Edwards co-directs the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlab.org). He is a co-author of a Sage textbook entitled, The Communication Age: Connecting and Engaging (2013/2016/2019/2023). Dr. Edwards has received several top-paper awards for his research. He has held offices at both national and regional communication conferences and is a Past-President and Executive Director of the Central States Communication Association. In 2009, Dr. Edwards received the WMU Distinguished Teaching Award (the highest teaching award given by WMU). He also has been awarded teaching awards from the WMU College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Kansas, and Texas Tech University. Currently, he is the Chair of the Human-Machine Communication area at the International Communication Association and a Founding Associate Editor of Human-Machine Communication.