Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction, Volume 8, Issue 2
2026 February - 28 articles
Cover Story: Conversational agents—from chatbots to LLM-based assistants—are reshaping healthcare, education and services, yet “interaction quality” is still fragmented and inconsistently measured. In an integrative review of 125 studies (2017–2025), we identify three layers of user judgment: a pragmatic core (usability, task effectiveness, conversational competence), a social–affective layer (social presence, warmth, synchronicity), and an accountability/inclusion layer (transparency, accessibility, fairness). We translate these findings into a four-layer framework—Capacity, Alignment, Levers and Outcomes—operationalised with a Capacity × Alignment matrix that helps diagnose quality regimes and points to actionable design levers for trustworthy, effective and inclusive human–AI dialogue. View this paper - Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list .
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