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IT MAY have killed the cat, but curiosity could be a boon to bots. Virtual assistants, such as Siri, could be made more engaging if they exhibited a sense of inquisitiveness about the world.

Han Yu and his colleagues at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore developed a virtual companion to guide schoolchildren through an online course. They found that children were more likely to remain focused when the companion enquired about what they were doing.

鈥淐hildren were more likely to remain focused when a digital companion asked them questions鈥�

鈥淲ah! There are so many molecules in here,鈥� says the assistant during a biology lesson. 鈥淟et鈥檚 go see what they are.鈥� Instead of only directing the pupils to the answers, the digital companion was programmed to ask for their help. This encouraged the kids to be more creative and explore subjects in greater depth ().

It is important not to overdo it, though. Too many questions and quizzical interjections not only make the system annoying, but can arouse anxiety and downright revulsion, says the team. To avoid such an 鈥渦ncanny valley鈥� sensation, the system monitors keyboard and mouse activity and interrupts with a 鈥渃uriosity prompt鈥� only when it detects activity dropping.

The idea could be applied to other virtual assistants, like Siri and Google Now, to stimulate a spirit of enquiry and nudge us to find information that we might not otherwise discover, says Chris Brauer at Goldsmiths, University of London, who studies such systems.

Intellectual curiosity doesn鈥檛 just help when it comes to our interactions with virtual assistants, he says. It鈥檚 a key part of artificial intelligence. 鈥淭hese agents should be increasingly autonomous and curiosity is a significant trait for that,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he more they are capable of seeking out new, interesting or unusual things, the better.鈥�

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐urious bots make better companions in the classroom鈥�