Is a Companion a Distinctive Kind of Relationship with a Machine?

I start from a perspective close to that of the EC COMPANIONS project, and set out its aim to model a new kind of human-computer relationship based on long-term interaction, with some tasks involved although a Companion should not be inherently task-based, since there need be no stopping point to its conversation. Some demonstration of its functionality will be given but the main purpose here is an analysis of what it is people might want from such a relationship and what evidence we have for whatever we conclude. Is politeness important? Is an attempt at emotional sympathy important or achievable? Does a user want a consistent personality in a Companion or a variety of personalities? Should we be talking more in terms of a "cognitive prosthesis (or orthosis)?"---something to extract, organize, and locate the user's knowledge or personal information---rather than attitudes?

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