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78163-01 - Lecture: Should a Robot Interrupt Humans? Turn-Taking in Human and Human-AI Interaction (2 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Damien Rudaz (damien.rudaz@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course will explore the history of empirical and theoretical work centered on one question: how do we take turns in conversation? It will aim to describe a normative organisation that all of us, as speakers, enact in our daily conversations, even if we have never articulated it explicitly. We will begin by tracing the history of empirical approaches to turn-taking, starting with the pioneering work of Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson. We will then review more recent multimodal approaches, which highlight that turn-taking is only one dimension of the subtle adjustments continuously accomplished by participants in face-to-face interaction. Next, we will turn to current attempts to model human turn-taking in order to enable artificial voice agents—such as those powered by large language models—to take turns smoothly. The recent difficulties encountered by researchers in this endeavor shed light on the remarkable complexity of this ordinary human practice. As a recent article succinctly put it: to date, large language models know what to say, but not when to talk. To understand why, we will examine a broad range of video data of interactions involving the latest voice-based conversational agents. Finally, after addressing the “can we” question, we will ask the “should we” question: should conversational agents be able to initiate new turns in conversation? Taking a turn is not a neutral action: in doing so, participants ‘do’ things. For example, they topicalize and draw attention to events or features in their immediate physical surroundings. Focusing on the case of environmentally occasioned noticings, we will examine the moral dimensions of initiating new turns designed as responses to aspects of the perceivable environment. This empirical backdrop will help us clarify the ethical dilemma at stake and ground it on more solid foundations. Namely, should an artificial agent be granted the ability to steer the course of action or the theme of a conversation in a particular direction, without being explicitly prompted to do so? |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-täglich | Friday | 14.15-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum 0105 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 20.02.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum 0105 |
| Friday 06.03.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum 0105 |
| Friday 20.03.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum 0105 |
| Friday 03.04.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Ostern |
| Friday 17.04.2026 | 12.45-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum E005 |
| Friday 01.05.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Friday 15.05.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Auffahrt |
| Friday 29.05.2026 | 12.45-14.15 | Maiengasse, Raum 104 |
| Friday 29.05.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Maiengasse, Seminarraum 0105 |
| Modules |
Modul: Du système linguistique à la parole situèe: Contextes (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Du système linguistique à la parole située: Pratiques (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Du système linguistique à la parole située: Système (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Modul: Interphilologie: Sprachwissenschaft MA (Master's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Modul: Spécialisation en linguistique française (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Module: Language and Society (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Language as Process (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Research and Extension (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | one repetition, repetition counts |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Französische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |