The uses of chatbots in the context of children and teenagers bullying: a systematic literature review

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review concerning the actual and future uses of chatbots (artificial conversation agents) in youth bullying cases. The study found that while artificial intelligence is highly regarded as an interesting tool by researchers, the technology is not yet good enough to intervene in crisis cases. Indeed, the studies show that chatbots are still inaccurate regarding emotion detection, their language is not adapted to children’s way of speaking and writing, and they are too predictable. Despite those limitations, the most promising use of chatbots regarding bullying is as a way to raise awareness about it among children and teenagers. Chatbots could then become a tool in preventing bullying cases. This paper also presents a review of researchers’ rhetoric about chatbots, the reasons why youths want to interact with chatbots, and how the use of chatbots in intervention is going to affect the service providers’ work.