anthropomorphism
Home > Midmarket CIO Definitions - Anthropomorphism
SearchCIO-Midmarket.com Definitions (Powered by WhatIs.com)
EMAIL THIS
LOOK UP TECH TERMS Powered by: WhatIs.com
Search listings for thousands of IT terms:
Browse tech terms alphabetically:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

anthropomorphism


DEFINITION - Anthropomorphism (from the Greek anthrôpos, for human, and morphé, for shape) is the tendency for people to think of other animals or inanimate objects as having human-like characteristics. If you have ever named your car, talked to your computer or begged your printer to work, you are guilty of assigning anthropomorphic characteristics to a machine. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed to the point that computers can learn from their mistakes so that they do not make a specific error more than once. The ability to self-correct, combined with the ability programmers have to enable speech synthesizers to produce responses that seem emotional, makes robots and other interactive devices seem more human-like than ever.

LAST UPDATED: 09 Apr 2004

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web:
- Wikipedia has an interesting entry for anthropomorphism.
- Scientific American published an article called "Why do we want our machines to seem alive?"





FILE EXTENSION AND FILE FORMAT LIST
File Extension and File Format List:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #






Mid-market CIO anthropomorphism Research and Reports
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2007 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts