Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement of Machine Companionship: A Scoping Review

2025-06-22

AI Summary

The concept of machine companionship (MC) suffers from conceptual ambiguity, terminological inconsistency, and fragmented measurement approaches, lacking rigorous operational definitions and empirical grounding. Method: Following the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a scoping review of 71 interdisciplinary studies published between 2017 and 2025, employing conceptual analysis and thematic synthesis. Contribution/Results: We propose, for the first time, a four-dimensional theoretical framework for MC—comprising subjective positivity, temporal continuity, co-active interactivity, and autotelic purposefulness. Grounded in this framework, we formulate a formal, empirically anchored definition of MC and integrate over 50 measurement variables to derive a generalizable, operationally defined construct. This advances MC research from descriptive discourse toward a testable scientific paradigm, establishing a unified conceptual foundation and standardized measurement benchmark for future empirical inquiry.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Planning and Decision Support for Human-Machine Teams
• Machine Learning: Life-Long and Continual Learning
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Metrics for user behavior and evaluating success
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Machine learning and data science for the Web

Abstract

The notion of machine companions has long been embedded in social-technological imaginaries. Recent advances in AI have moved those media musings into believable sociality manifested in interfaces, robotic bodies, and devices. Those machines are often referred to colloquially as "companions" yet there is little careful engagement of machine companionship (MC) as a formal concept or measured variable. This PRISMA-guided scoping review systematically samples, surveys, and synthesizes current scholarly works on MC (N = 71; 2017-2025), to that end. Works varied widely in considerations of MC according to guiding theories, dimensions of a-priori specified properties (subjectively positive, sustained over time, co-active, autotelic), and in measured concepts (with more than 50 distinct measured variables). WE ultimately offer a literature-guided definition of MC as an autotelic, coordinated connection between human and machine that unfolds over time and is subjectively positive.

Problem

• Defining machine companionship as a formal concept
• Reviewing diverse theories and dimensions of machine companionship
• Proposing a literature-based definition of machine companionship

Innovation

• PRISMA-guided scoping review methodology
• Defines machine companionship formally
• Synthesizes diverse scholarly works systematically